Founded in 2006 by Masaru Kakio and Tsukahara Yuya, contact Gonzo is an improvisational performance group based in Osaka, Japan. Their artistic practice combines body contact with performance aesthetics. The collective has developed a specific mode of contact improvisation that borrows from sources as various as sport, martial arts, performance and urban culture.
The name contact Gonzo was inspired by “Gonzo journalism”, a form of journalism written in a highly personal writing style invented in the 1970s. The collective’s performance strongly emphasises improvisational interaction among performers that is often likened to fighting or martial arts, blurring the boundaries between violence and trust.

contact Gonzo has performed in public spaces, mountains, rivers, galleries, museums, theatres and alleys in Japan, Singapore, New York, Hong Kong, Moscow, Rio, Reykjavik, Zurich, Bristol among other places. They often collaborate with artists of different disciplines, and their own work also includes photo and video installations.

In Riga the fuor memebrs of contact Gonzo -Yuya Tsukahara, Takuya Matsumi, Keigo Mikajiri, Ryu Mieno – will work together with Latvian dancers Elīna Lutce, Aldis Liepiņš, Klāvs Liepiņš and visual artist Andris Eglītis.

Idea: contact Gonzo
Creators and performers: Yuya Tsukahara, Takuya Matsumi, Ryu Mieno, Keigo Mikajiri, Elīna Lutce, Aldis Liepiņš, Klāvs Liepiņš, Andris Eglītis