Naoko Maeshiba
Assistant Professor- nmaeshiba@towson.edu,
(410)704-2791
A native of Kobe , Japan , Naoko Maeshiba has been directing, choreographing, and performing multi-disciplinary works within and outside of the U.S. She received her M.F.A. in Theatre and Drama from the University of Hawai'I at Manoa. Her directorial works are described as "imaginativeî and ìenigmaticî which offers ìchallenging theatrical experienceî (Honolulu Star Bulletin March 30, 1998). With her physical sensitivity ìas delicate as an early crocusî (Washington Post, Feb. 23, 2004 ) and her bold imagination, she creates work which "defies categorization" ( Baltimore Sun June 10, 2004 ) and "takes us on journeys into new worlds" (Washington Times May 12, 2001 ).
In 1999, she moved to Washington , D.C. in order to serve an Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship at Arena Stage in Directing/Artistic Directing (1999-2000). In January of 2001, she was assigned as the Co-Artistic Director of Tsunami Theatre Company in Washington , D.C. In January of 2002, she founded Naoko Maeshiba Performance Collective where she conducts on-going experiments fusing various elements of performance such as movement, text, object, voice, and music in the process-oriented lab work.
Most recently, she choreographed/directed/performed in Trace (Kennedy Center Millennium Stage), The Voyage (Baltimore Theatre Project), Spring that has gone too long ( Warehouse Gallery, D.C.), Olfactory Factory (International House of Japan, Tokyo), and Communitas (Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum ). She has also performed in Ancient Greenland and Ancient Women (Hakushu, Japan) directed by Min Tanaka and Fish in the Garden (Honolulu, HI) directed by Fritz Ludin. Her directing credits include The Green Stockings (Tsunami Theatre Company, D.C), Suitcase (Library of Congress, D.C.), Vacant Lot (Kumu Kahua Theatre, Honolulu ), and The Little Match Girl 2 (Tangentz Dance Theatre, Honolulu ). She also assistant directed Ohta Shogo, one of the most prominent Japanese contemporary directors/playwrights, in his Water Station III , which toured to Singapore .
Maeshiba has taught workshops for Shakespeare Theatre's Southeast Project, Sol y Sol, Leneon Theatre Company, Glen Echo Park , Joy of Motion, Honolulu Theatre for Youth, and Department of Education in Honolulu . She has taught various subjects in dance and theatre at George Mason University and the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts.
She is a recipient of Artist Fellowship Grant from the D.C. Commissions on the Arts and Humanities and NEA (2001-2002),Kennedy Center Local Dance Commissioning Project Award (2004), and Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award (2005). She is a member of Lincoln Center 's Director's Lab and Theatre Nohgaku in Tokyo .
