Inga Fontez–Sakurako
Lecturer at the LMTA Department of Acting and Directing. Subjects: Butoh Technique in Performing Arts. Languages: English (C2), Russian (C2), French (C1), Dutch (C1), Polish (B2).
Inga Fontez (mostly known by her stage name Sakurako) is a manifold artist of Lithuanian origin. In 2017, Sakurako, who for twenty years had lived in the Netherlands and created on a global scale, moved to Lithuania to continue her creative and educational career in Vilnius. Besides teaching at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, the artist runs butoh and dance theatre seminars.
Sakurako graduated from the prestigious Gerrit Rietveld Academy of Arts in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and has predominantly worked in Europe: the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Slovenia, and other European countries, as well as Mexico and Japan. With various masters in Japan and Europe, Sakurako has studied Eastern martial arts and traditional Japanese arts (Nô theatre, chado, sumi-e, and others) and avant-garde dance butoh.
Sakurako has brought together different elements of her interdisciplinary creative work and enriched contemporary dance with butoh technique and, as a result, has established an inimitable form of expression of performing arts distinguished by unique aesthetics and philosophy. The artist is primarily dedicated to creating site-specific live performances, solo or with a troupe, balancing on the edge between visual art and the art of performance, dance, and theatre.
In 2012, Sakurako started leading Re-United Now-Here dance company; first in Amsterdam and later relocating the activity to Paris. In 2017, when Sakurako moved to Lithuania, she founded the Okarukas Dance Theatre in Vilnius.
Sakurako has created performances at Palacio De Bellas Artes (Mexico); the State Small Theatre of Vilnius, Menų Spaustuvė in Vilnius (Arts Printing House); Tenri, Le 104, Le Cube, Théâtre du Temps, L’Auditorium Saint-Germain, and L’Atelier des Vertus (Paris, France); OT301, Paradiso, Theater de Cameleon, Oostblok Theatre, and Oude Kerk and Posthoornkerk (Amsterdam, Netherlands); Volksroom (Brussels, Belgium); SCCA Center for Contemporary Arts (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Äkkigalleria (Jyväskylä, Finland), Kuiperdomingos Projects (Berlin, Germany), and UrBANGUILD (Kyoto, Japan). Besides, Sakurako has been a frequent participant of a wide range of festivals: among others, Aura, Naujasis Baltijos šokis (New Baltic Dance), PLArTFORMA, Mėnuo Juodaragis (Lithuania); Nuit Blanche, Festival d’Aurillac (France); Juli Dans, Art Rotterdam (Netherlands); Roppongi Art Night (Tokyo, Japan); Pukkelpop (Belgijoje); Red Dawns, City of Women (Slovenia); Gogolfest (Ukraine); Exit! Schloss Broellin (Germany), and Venice Art Biennale’11 (Italy).