Asian American dancer, storyteller, community activist.
Gabrielle Kazuko Nomura Gainor makes dances for healing, for being together in community—and for reclaiming what it means to be Asian American. Classically trained in ballet, Gabrielle studied dance and journalism in college—later getting involved in racial justice work and community organizing in Seattle. Working with an intergenerational group of Asian dancers, Gabrielle creates performances with her own communities in mind as the audience. Previous works have explored Asian representation in Hollywood, the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans, intergenerational trauma, Sadako Sasaki's wish for peace, Shinto mythology, and the sacrifices of our mothers, grandmothers and aunties. Gabrielle's artistic and/or cultural work has been featured in The Seattle Times, on local NPR affiliate KUOW, and in The New York Times; the work they led for Seattle Opera's "Madame Butterfly" was praised as a "helpful model" for approaching historic works of art. Gabrielle is from Irish, Ilocano, and Japanese ancestors and grew up on Duwamish land.
Led by Gabrielle Nomura Gainor, Tsuru Ko is an intergenerational dance company that exists for Asian American storytelling, healing, and community building. This project-based company includes dancers ranging in age from early 20s to late 60s–including queer, Mixed Race, and first-generation Americans. Tsuru Ko aims to create spaces for Asian American stories to shine in all their complexity and contradictions. The group has been honored to perform at Hai! Japantown, Hiroshima to Hope, Densho’s 25th Anniversary Gala, Method Gallery, the Erickson Theatre, Pride ASIA and more. Tsuru Ko dancers have led masterclasses and/or worked as teaching artists with Western Washington University, TeenTix, and Dance Fremont!
Choreography
Select works in rehearsal and performance
“Gabrielle Nomura Gainor’s work in the performing arts is a source of refuge from this historically white space .”
— International Examiner
Interviews
International Examiner
Gabrielle Nomura Gainor is a fifth-generation Japanese American dancer, choreographer, and activist. She recently created “Sadako and the Cranes,” a dance film performance, in collaboration with Trial & Error Productions and Hiroshima to Hope, a nonprofit dedicated to honoring the Hiroshima and Nagasaki victims, as well as all victims of war and violence.
The Camouflage Net Project: Art meets dance, family, and history
International Examiner
Gabrielle Nomura Gainor is a fifth-generation Japanese American dancer, choreographer, and activist. She recently created “Sadako and the Cranes,” a dance film performance, in collaboration with Trial & Error Productions and Hiroshima to Hope, a nonprofit dedicated to honoring the Hiroshima and Nagasaki victims, as well as all victims of war and violence.
A Japanese American dancer/choreographer remembers Hiroshima in a most personal way
WWU Alumni Association
In her dancing and choreography, Gabrielle Kazuko Nomura Gainor draws on more than just physical strength and technique from her background in classical ballet. She is inspired by history, Asian cultures, storytelling, and community organizing. She draws on her Japanese-Filipina heritage and Buddhist faith, incorporating Asian-American theater and classical Japanese dance in her pieces. Her deep and wide mixture of influences echoes the multidisciplinary undergraduate experience she had at Western.
Distinguished Alumna - College of Fine and Performing Arts
The International Examiner
In 1973, the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities created Humanities Washington, one of 55 total state and territorial humanities councils throughout the United States. In turn, in 2017, Humanities Washington launched a new statewide cultural heritage and traditional arts program called the Center for Washington Cultural Traditions, which is the home for the annual Heritage Arts Apprenticeship Program (HAAP).
Every summer, HAAP announces its newest participants in a year-long master-apprentice program, and this summer, two of those participants are master teacher Kaya Yamazaki, Ph.D., and apprentice Gabrielle Nomura Gainor, who together will be focusing on the tradition of Kagura, a classical form of Japanese dance.