YUKI KAWAHISA 

is a New York-based actor, theatre creator, and multidisciplinary performing artist originally from Japan. A proud immigrant, she earned her U.S. Permanent Residency through her professional achievements in the performing arts. Her expansive practice spans directing, writing, and choreography, with an international career that includes performing, presenting original work, and leading workshops across Europe, Asia, and North America. She was a Lab Artist at Mercury Store (Spring 2024 and 2025), is a 2026 Resident Artist at the Center for Performance Research (CPR), and had served as a curator at The Brick Theatre in Brooklyn 2020-2023.

While extensively trained in traditional Noh Theatre (Kita School), Kawahisa’s artistic trajectory actively embraces physical comedy and experimental form, carrying a deep-seated aspiration to practice as a clown. Her theatrical journey began in 1998, when a visit to Vancouver, Canada as an ESL student catalyzed her transition into an actor and playwright. She subsequently toured Canada with her critically acclaimed debut solo show, The Kimono Loosened (directed by Maureen Robinson). Driven by an interest in physical methodologies, she joined Dell’Arte International’s Abroad Program in 2003, traveling to Bali, Indonesia to immerse herself in Balinese dance, mask work, and Wayang Kulit (traditional shadow puppetry).

Since relocating to New York in 2005, Kawahisa has established herself as a vital voice in the international avant-garde landscape. In 2008, she was invited to Robert Wilson’s Watermill Summer Program, performing in the remount of SKIN MEAT BONE and collaborating with legendary figures Alvin Lucier, Keith McDermott, and Meg Harper, alongside the Taiwanese avant-garde collective Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters. She was later invited by Wilson to join the Suzushi Hanayagi Project, performing as one of six dancers in Kool: Dancing in My Mind at prestigious venues including the Guggenheim Museum, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Guild Hall, and Berlin's Akademie der Künste.

In 2009, Kawahisa made her European and Australian debuts starring in Temporary Distortion’s hyper-stylized theater/cinema production Americana Kamikaze (Performance Space 122). Her performance drew critical acclaim, with The New York Times singling her out in a glowing review during its international tour, which included the EXIT Festival (Créteil Maison des Arts, Paris), VIA International Festival (Maubeuge, France), and the World Theatre Festival (Powerhouse, Brisbane).

Deeply embedded in the contemporary downtown performance community, Kawahisa is a recurring collaborator of director Andrew Ondrejcak, appearing in New York premieres such as WONDER/LUST (Teatro La Tea/HERE Arts Center), FEAST (Incubator Arts Project/The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival), and KINGS OF MACEDONIA and ELIJAH GREEN (both at The Kitchen). She is an Associate Artist with The Million Underscores and collaborates frequently with dancer Melissa Lohman and multimedia artist Ursula Endlicher. 

Committed to inclusive performance practices, she has worked since 2021 with Glad Teater—an inclusive arts theater company in Copenhagen, Denmark—collaborating, training, and devising new works alongside neurodivergent performers and artists with physical disabilities. She made her European directing debut with Glad Teater, helming the physical theatre performance marbles with a cast of 18 actors (Thorvaldsen’s Museum, Copenhagen)

During the global pandemic, Kawahisa sustained her creative practice through HenSin-MetaMorPhosis: One Morning Yuki Wake Up and She Was a Bear, an ambitious durational digital project for which she wrote, performed, filmed, edited, and streamed a daily video as a bear for 560 consecutive days.

Her extensive performance credits include landmark experimental works and premieres:

• The Bridge Project – Directed by Richard Forman

• Suicide Forest – Written by Haruna Lee, directed by Aya Ogawa (Obie Award-winning production; Bushwick Starr/Ma-Yi Theater Company/A.R.T./New York Theatres)

• Time’s Journey Through a Room – Written by Toshiki Okada, directed by Dan Rothenberg (The Play Company/A.R.T./New York Theatres)

• Ludic Proxy – Written and directed by Aya Ogawa (The Play Company/Walker Space)

• SPEECH – Created by Lightning Rod Special, directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury

• You Are Under Our Space Control – Created by Object Collection (La MaMa E.T.C.)

• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 2.0 – Created by Wang (Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre / Tokyo Festival)

• In viaggio verso Eutopia – Created by Instabili Vaganti (Teatro Dimora, Teatro Castagnoli, and Teatro nel Bicchiere Festival, Italy)

Kawahisa’s singular performance vocabulary synthesizes rigorous Eastern and Western methodologies. In addition to a two-year certificate from the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, she is trained in Butoh, Western clowning, and holds a certification from the International Online Puppet Therapy Program through The School of Puppet Therapy Barcelona.