Akiko Tokuoka

Akiko Tokuoka is a dancer, choreographer and actress based in New York. Her unique concept is to create an explosion of contrasting elements including global cultures, historical eras and styles. She has over 20 years' experience as an performing artist, specializing in freestyle dancing. At a young age she was drawn to many dance styles such as hip-hop, jazz as well as 80's funk. She began her career taking gigs at various nightclubs while also working as a backup dancer for a well-known J-Pop artist. She has garnered lead dancing roles at distinguished venues, like the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Blue Note, The Metropolitan Museum of the Art, and Off-Broadway venues among many others. Intrigued early on by the NY voguing culture, she gained full official membership in the legendary "House of Ninja" in 2009. The House of Ninja is a world-famous a voguing collective that has worked with artists like Madonna, appearing with her on tour, in her music video and appearing with her in her 2012 Super Bowl Halftime Performance. Tokuoka's crew name is "KiT Ninja," and in 2010 she coordinated a House of Ninja tour through major cities in Japan, including her native hometown Kyoto. She was also featured, along with other House of Ninja members, in a short award-winning film documentary about the House of Ninja by DAZED Magazine. She has starred in Off-Broadway musicals, like "Heather Smiley for President" and "War+Lovers", and traditional Japanese plays, like "Jyou En", including for the Theater For the New City (NYC) and been featured in Nike, New Era and NYC Play Sure commercials. Most recently, she performed with Ciara, in her "Level Up" performance at the MNF Genesis Halftime Show in Seattle, and choreographed and performed in R&B singer / songwriter Lovari's "Paparazzi" music video, which was nominated for "Best Music Video" at the Newark International Film Festival in September 2018 and was featured on MTV. Tokuoka aspires to uplift and inspire her audience through performances that combine her skills in acting, dancing and choreography.