
Yokihi
A Love Beyond Death
Kaoru Watanabe
LEIMAY PRESENTING SERIES 2026: AT HOME
Yokihi has long been told as the tale of Emperor Genso and his beloved concubine. I, however, reinterpret this story as a symbol of love, devotion, and the eternal yearning for a connection to the past.
Even if one physically returns, what awaits may be a transformed landscape—and a self that no longer fits. I am exploring the play Yokihi to understand its meaning and appeal, which has endured for over a millennium. In doing so, I am also searching for the fragile and tenuous threads that link history to the present, roots to identity.
Documentation
KAORU WATANABE
Composer and instrumentalist Kaoru Watanabe’s work is rooted in traditional Japanese performing arts and infused with contemporary experimental and improvisational elements. He is a highly sought-after collaborator, working with such iconic artists as Wes Anderson, Laurie Anderson, and Bando Tamasaburo. After studying jazz at the Manhattan School of Music, Watanabe became the first US-born performer and artistic director of the groundbreaking taiko drumming ensemble Kodo. Watanabe’s unique approach to integrating elements of Japanese music into his vast array of collaborative projects has culminated in the creation of Bloodlines Interwoven, a multifaceted commissioning ensemble celebrating heritage, immigration, and diaspora through music.
ALICIA HALL MORAN
Alicia Hall Moran, mezzo-soprano, is a multi-dimensional artist performing and composing between the genres of Opera, Art, Theater, and Jazz. Ms. Moran starred as Bess on the celebrated 20-city American tour of the Tony-winning revival The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.
DANA LYN
Brooklyn-based composer, violinist, pianist, and visual artist whose work spans the gamut from
multidisciplinary productions to traditional Irish fiddling to improvisation.
SATOSHI TAKEISHI
Based in New York City, percussionist Satoshi Takeishi has become a prominent figure in the jazz and experimental music scenes, celebrated for his versatility and ability to seamlessly integrate musical genres ranging from jazz to world music and avant-garde styles.
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Metallic Fish, 2023
$3,000.00
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Dinner Table, 2023
$2,000.00
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Rusty Sea, 2023
$800.00
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Owl Path, 2023
$800.00
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Body in the Prairie, 2023
$800.00
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A Bridge, 2023
$800.00
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Hand, 2023
$800.00
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Loaded, 2023
$800.00
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A mi Guayabito, 2023
$800.00
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Mangrove Silhouette, 2023
$800.00
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Hand, 2023 (riso)
$50.00
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Metallic Fish, 2023 (riso)
$150.00
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Dinner Table, 2023 (riso)
$350.00
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Borders Publication
$80.00 - $100.00
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Frantic Beauty Publication
$100.00
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Becoming Corpus Publication
$100.00
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Floating Point Waves
$30.00
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Postcards - LEIMAY
$15.00
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Postcards - Butoh Masters Collection
$30.00
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Tote Bags - Borders
$20.00
Object Identifier
AMP.PRG.2026.8000.1Year Created
2026Performance dates
2026-07-18 00:00:00
Language
EnglishCurated Filters
Space / Location
- CAVE home of LEIMAY
Premiere Venue
CAVE Home Of LEIMAYJuly 13, 2026 - July 19, 2026
58 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY
Concept & Artistic Direction
Kaoru Watanabe
Mezzo Soprano
Alicia Hall Moran
Violin
Dana Lyn
Percussion
Satoshi Takeishi
Japanese flutes and percussion
Kaoru Watanabe
All compositions by Kaoru Watanabe
Thank you to Mikhail Baryshnikov who commissioned the original version of this piece
Technical coordinator
Benja Thompson
Technical assistance
Masanori Asahara
Production assistance
Krystel Mazzeo
Zee Baird-Appleton
Photo and Video by Benja Thompson
LEIMAY is an artist-led practice and nonprofit organization founded by Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya, based in Brooklyn. For three decades, it has sustained a dedicated space for artistic creation rooted in experimentation and embodied practice. Working across performance, visual art, and interdisciplinary research, LEIMAY operates as both an organizational structure and a living artistic environment where work and exchange take place over time. Through its home at CAVE and its public activities, LEIMAY engages artists and audiences while maintaining ongoing support from public agencies, foundations, and individual donors.
CAVE, LEIMAY’s home in Williamsburg, is a long-standing site for artistic experimentation and community exchange. It functions as a space where artists develop work, share process, and remain in dialogue with the conditions of the city.
LEIMAY is itself a work of art. It is constantly transforming as a living organism, guided by a belief that the world is realized through experience, discovered through questioning, and changed by action.
The word LEIMAY is a Japanese term symbolizing the changing moment between darkness and light, or the passage from one era to another. This sense of transition informs a practice that attends to perception, embodiment, and relation, holding space for what emerges in the in-between.
Across its activities, LEIMAY organizes its work through interrelated pathways of practice that engage the body, the imagination, and relation. Often articulated as Embody, Imagine, and Weave, these are not separate programs but ways in which artistic processes circulate through training, creation, and public engagement. Through this approach, LEIMAY sustains an ecosystem where artists develop work, share process, and participate in a broader field of exchange
LEIMAY At Home Constellation series is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; the Harkness Foundation; the Howard Gilman Foundation; the Mertz Gilmore Foundation; the Mellon Foundation and many generous contributions from individual donors.
LEIMAY extends heartfelt thanks to our supporters and funders.
LEIMAY Team
Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya
Artistic and General Co-Directors
The LEIMAY Ensemble
Masanori Asahara, Krystel Mazzeo & Akane Little
Ado Sotomayor
Project Consultant
Emilia Winschu
Marketing, Outreach and Development Consultant
Mario Santana
Finance Consultant
Marlon Hurtado
Finance Consultant
Megan Kendzior
Strategic Development Consultant
Denisa Musilova
Development Associate








