Traditional Japanese and Okinawan dancer Junko Fisher presents a showcase of dances from across Japan’s cultural spectrum. The program opens with dances performed in the female tradition, including the elegant Geisha dance of Kyoto and a popular dance form from the southern island of Okinawa. Also featured are male-tradition dances drawn from Kabuki theater and Okinawan styles shaped by the influence of karate. Junko will also explore the deep connection between Japanese martial arts and traditional dance, demonstrating how karate kata — the formalized movement sequences of the martial art — find their way into Okinawan dance, producing strikingly similar forms and gestures.