Note 3
Baku Ishii (1886-1962) was a pioneer of Japanese modern dance. He spent five years at the Teikoku Theater (Teigeki), first as a violinist, and then moved to the opera section, and eventually found his way into the discipline of dance. He learned ballet under G.V. Rosi from 1913 to 1915. Ishii left the Teigeki because of difficulties with Rosi. Resonant with the rise of the new wave of theater and literature, Ishii chose to pursue modern dance rather than ballet. With the collaboration of Kosaku Yamada, a modern composer, Ishii’s dance research was strongly influenced by the Eurhythmics of Jacques Dalcroze, and he began to present “dance poems.” He then joined the Asakusa Opera where Ishii and his partner, Konami, visited Europe from 1922 to 1925. During this time, Ishii and his partner performed several of his original pieces in Berlin and other European cities. In 1925 he toured the United States, performing in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other cities. After his return to Japan, Ishii greatly influenced the development of modern dance in his native country. In 1926 he opened his dance studio and then, in 1930, his school. Ishii was responsible for training many modern dancers in Japan.