The Sensual World

A glimpse into the world of Bambi Naka and her personal dance vernacular

Having shared a stage with Madonna, posed for Alexander Wang, and vogued for Hussein Chalayan, Japanese dancer and actress Bambi Naka is no stranger to performing alongside icons, for icons and as an icon herself. The Sensual World is where we catch a glimpse into the Tokyo-based dancer’s world. We see the way in which her hands, eyes, ears, mouth, and the limbs of her body are given life by rhythm, and learn that her process of “refinement” begins with getting to know every detail of herself. As a result, while the dance form that we see is peculiar to Bambi Naka herself, it nevertheless remains flexible and unrestrained as that process is constantly being negotiated.

Her genre of dance, despite often being dubbed as ‘voguing,’ is not in fact that, but an original choreography by Aya Sato, a member of AyaBambi — a duo Naka was formerly a part of. “We didn’t intend for it to be ’voguing’; music and rhythm are the continuous dialogue between the body and the brain. Everything is in order, and the beat becomes dispensable.”