BIOGRAPHY

Minami Kikuchi, a senior at Lindenwood University from Tokyo, Japan, is completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance. Her dance journey began at the age of three at Lufairy Ballet, but she later shifted her focus to modern/contemporary dance under the guidance of Izumi Miyamura and Kyoko Makino. Minami then began choreographing at 15, showcasing her first original work at Jissen Girls School of Tokyo. She continued choreographing until she left Japan at age 19. In the United States, she premiered her first choreographed piece, "Invisible Things," at the 2023 Adjudication Concert of the American College Dance Association Conference. Her most recent choreographic achievement, "BODY," earned recognition at the Modern American Dance Company's Dare to Dance Festival 2024. During her time in the Lindenwood University Dance Program, she has taken advantage of opportunities to perform in the annual Informal, Fall, Winter, and Spring dance concerts. Beyond campus, she showcased her talent at the 2022 and 2023 American College Dance Association Conferences, as well as events like the St.Louis National Dance Week Festival and The Big Muddy Dance Festival. Notably, Minami delivered a solo performance at the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Memorial in Boston, Massachusetts. Most recently, she trained at Urbanity Dance in Boston, Massachusetts as a part of their 2023 contemporary summer intensive. She also was an intern at Urbanity Dance during the summer of 2022-2023. She hopes to pursue her passion for dance and choreography after graduation and hopes to showcase to others that dance is a universal language.