Keiko Saito

Education:

2019 Ph.D., Russian Literature and Culture, Waseda University
2010 M.A., Saint Petersburg Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov
2006 B.A., Russian Literature, Waseda University

Field of Study:

Keiko Saito has been interested in researching Russian/Soviet and Japanese ballet history with an emphasis on interchange among these cultures. While working on her dissertation about the Tchaikovsky Memorial Tokyo Ballet School (1960–1964), she had dealt with such fields as Soviet and Japanese ballet history, Soviet cultural policy, and Soviet cultural diplomacy toward Japan during the Cold War. She has also studied cultural activities of white émigrés in the Russian Far East, China, and Japan, and their relationship with the Japanese during World War II. Besides the above, she will restart the research about “Japanese” ballet in Russian ballet theatre at the end of the 19th century, which she had begun to investigate during her M.A. studies. She will try to clarify special features of Russian “Japonism” in Russian theatre and the reasons for its birth through examining the political, aesthetic, and historical aspects.

Recent Publications (Selected):

Journal Articles:

Влияние методики Агриппины Вагановой на развитие искусства балета в Японии // IV Вагановские чтения. Материалы международной научно-практической конференции (23-24 мая 2018 года). СПб. 2018, forthcoming.
“The Ballet ‘Marimo’ (1962) and Socialist Realism: Soviet Ballet Interpretation of a Story about the Ainu,” Ethno-Arts, vol. 34, pp. 123–129, 2018. (in Japanese)
“Ballet and Politics: The Tchaikovsky Memorial Tokyo Ballet School (1960–1964) and the Soviet Union’s Cultural Diplomacy during the Cold War,” Japan Border Review, No. 8, pp. 55–87, 2018. (in Japanese)
“‘Swan Lake’ of the Tchaikovsky Memorial Tokyo Ballet School: Its Placement in the Context of the Soviet Union's ‘Swan Lake’ Performance History,” Choreologia, No. 38, pp. 20–32, 2015. (in Japanese)
“The Tchaikovsky Memorial Tokyo Ballet School for Japanese–Soviet Cultural Exchange: Based on Documents from The Ministry of Culture of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,” Bulletin of the Japan Association for the Study of Russian Language and Literature, No. 45, pp. 227–245, 2013. (in Japanese)

Book Chapter:

“The Problem of the Reception of Kabuki Art in Russia in the End of the XIX Century: Based on the Ballet ‘The Mikado's Daughter’,” in Yoko Ueda ed., Kabuki and Russia in Revolution, Tokyo: Shinwasha, pp. 270–282, 2017. (in Japanese)

Grants and Fellowships:

- “Japonism” in Russia in the Periods of Imperialism and Revolution: History, Aesthetics and Politics (JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Young Scientists, 2018–2022)
- The Tchaikovsky Memorial Tokyo Ballet School (1960-64) for Japanese-Soviet Cultural Exchange (Japan Russian Youth Exchange Center, Fellowship for Young Scholars, 2013-2014)

Professional Service:

- Member, Commission on the Assessment of Material Collection of Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples (2017-present)
- Secretary of Theme 7 People and Community in the Arctic: Possibility of Sustainable Development, Arctic Challenge for Sustainability (2015-present)
- Secretary of Comparative Research on Major Regional Powers in Eurasia, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (2008-2012)