Born in Niigata, Japan, Kota Yamazaki (Choreographer) was first introduced to butoh under the teaching of Akira Kasai at the age of 18. With the invitation from Germain Acogny to create a work FAGAALA in collaboration with her Senegal-based company, Yamazaki disbanded his Tokyo-based company rosy co., which he led from 1995-2001. Since 2003, Yamazaki with New York-based Fluid hug-hug has been presenting work nationally and internationally. Yamazaki is a recipient of the Bessie Award of 2007, Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award of 2013, NYFA Fellowship of 2016, and Guggenheim Fellowship of 2018. Yamazaki currently teaches at Sarah Lawrence College, and is a current The Andrew Mellon Foundation Fellow artist at MANCC.