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i am a dance artist
teaching, choreographing, performing
and, mothering
through moving trying to make sense of it all…

Aya is a Glasgow-based independent dance artist. She often teaches, performs and choreographs on various companies and communities.

Born in Japan, she began ballet training at an early age to help her pigeon toes for walking. She found her passion in dance and trained at Showa Music and Art College (Tokyo). She then relocated to the UK and continued her training at Rambert School and Chichester University for MA.

She performed with various artists/companies such as Yael Flexer, Rosemary Lee, Charlie Morrissey, Gecko Theatre and Scottish Dance Theatre. She is a member of Collective Endeavours and practices improvisation performance.

At the heart of her work is inclusion. Between 2019-2023, she was leading Barrowland Ballet’s intergenerational company Wolf Pack. She has worked with various inclusive companies and communities such as Anjali, Indepen-Dance, Stop Gap and Paragon. Aya also works as a movement director for Tricky Hat Production, helping brilliant life stories shine on stage. She teaches inclusive workshops internationally.

She is a lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and teaches weekly professional classes hosted by The Work Room which she dedicates to the dance community in Glasgow.

She often works with galleries such as Tate, V&A Museum of Childhood and Tramway, to lead education workshops and participatory performances. She also enjoys creating outdoor and site-specific work and exploring the possibility of movement in public places. Her works have been presented in the UK and abroad at locations including The Place, Paralympics 2012 torch relay ceremony, Cairo, Madrid, Tokyo, Ofunato (Japan), Mexico and various places in Scotland.

 

 
Click here to view or download Aya Kobayashi’s CV (pdf file): Aya Kobayashi CV