Sayoko Onishi is a Japanese choreographer, dancer, and teacher based in Italy and France. Active internationally since 1990, she has forged a singular artistic language centered on butoh, where inner energy and sensation give rise to movement.
Since 2009, she has been a member of the French company Man’Ok & Cie in Nancy. In 2020, she founded Onishi Dance / New Butoh® and the New Butoh School in Ruvo di Puglia, Italy. She is also a member of Independent Little Lies in Luxembourg.
Her work is deeply intercultural—rooted in Eastern sensibilities yet not confined to East or West—seeking a powerful inner expression that generates physical dynamism.


