ZEN (Koki Ota) hails from Kochi Prefecture — the birthplace of the yosakoi festival — and is the founder and leader of Tokyo yosakoi team SUN 燦. He leads the Sunday workshop “Yosakoi to Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress”.
Career
- 2001 — moved to Tokyo for university and began dancing, inspired by Kochi’s yosakoi festival
- 2003 — entered the International Dance Academy (now Steps Arts) in its first-ever class, studying a wide range of dance genres alongside event planning, composition and stage direction; directed the school’s showcase events and graduated with the Best Dancer Award
- Today — professional dancer, performing in the club scene as “SWING TOP STARS☆”, and active as a backup dancer, choreographer, model and instructor
- 2006 — founded the yosakoi street-dance team “Otorain”, serving as leader for four of its seven years and guiding it to numerous festival awards
- 2012 — founded his current team, SUN 燦 (based in the Kanto region)
- 2017 — realized his long-held dream of performing at the Kochi Yosakoi Festival