As a dancer, choreographer, philosopher and now professor in the Department of Scenography Design, Drama and Dance at Tama Art University in Setagaya, Tokyo, Saburo Teshigawara has been extending the range of his talents ever since he stopped studying visual arts and sculpture to begin learning ballet at the age of 20 in 1973. That was before he switched direction again, in 1981, to experiment with videomakers, sound artists and other performers in search of what he terms a "new form of beauty.

Now, whether through solo works or ones for Karas, the Tokyo-based troupe he founded in 1985, this unique artist continues to create new dance vocabularies that explore the limits of the body in space. In so doing, Teshigawara has forged an international reputation as an outstanding choreographer and director. This has led to him being commissioned by numerous leading overseas ballet companies to produce new works that he also integrates into his own company's repertoire.

In creating his most recent piece, titled "Sleep," Teshigawara has been working with the 41-year-old French ballerina Aurelie Dupont, who is soon to retire from her position as etoile (star dancer) at the Paris Opera Ballet — the top rank she was awarded following her stunning portrayal of Kitri in that company's 1998 revival of Rudolph Nureyev's production of "Don Quixote."