Totsu-totsu Dance - like art, like care

“Totsu-totsu Dance – like art, like care” is a long-running dance workshop and performance from Japan, initiated in 2009 by dancer-choreographer Osamu Jareo and non-profit arts organisation torindo. It brings together people with dementia, care home residents, staff, local communities, and dancers—exploring dance as a gentle, creative approach to dementia care.
The term totsu-totsu comes from Japanese words meaning “faltering” and “unsophisticated”, evoking movements that are slow and hesitant. This is not dance striving for perfection, but an art form rooted in everyday bodily communication. Improvisation is often used to stir physical memory and foster connection.
Since 2020, the project has expanded online, enabling artists and elder care centres in Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore to connect and share the same philosophy.
In January 2025, a performance in Osaka featured people with dementia and their care-partners. This August, a new iteration will take place in Penang, Malaysia, involving local artists, dancers, and elder care communities.
Blending dance, video, workshops, and talks, “Totsu-totsu Dance – like art, like care” offers an intimate glimpse into the world of dementia care—gently broadening the circle of empathy, creativity, and shared movement across borders.
“Totsu-totsu Dance” is a dance workshop and dance performance series that has been organized in Japan since 2009 by dancer/choreographer Osamu Jareo and non-profit arts organization torindo with residents of the Graceville Maizuru nursing home (Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture), facility staffs and local residents.
It is an art project involving people with dementia living in (or attending) nursing homes, the elderly, carers and dancers, and is also attracting attention as a new potential approach to dementia care.
The word “Totsu-totsu” is named after the Japanese words meaning “faltering” and “unsophisticated”, evoking the image of “slowly, wavering and hesitating”. The project is not a “dance” that seeks perfection of refined physical expression, but a project that values daily bodily communication, sometimes using improvisational dance techniques to evoke the physical memories of the participants.
From 2020 onwards, influenced by Covid-19, we began to take an online approach to workshops and communication instead of face-to-face dance workshops. This has enabled Jareo and torindo members based in Tokyo area, not only in Japan, but also in Malaysia and Singapore to connect with artists and day care centers for the elderly who have shared the same philosophy of Totsu-totsu Dance.
In January this year, a dance performance involving people with dementia was held in Osaka. And in August, a dance performance will be held in Penang, Malaysia, bringing together people with dementia and their care-partners, as well as local artists and dancers.
This will be an opportunity for people to get to know the usually intimate initiatives that take place in elderly care homes and online, using a variety of art forms including dance, video, lecture and workshop activities. We hope to continue to expand the circle of Totsu-totsu Dance in Japan and abroad.

Performers:
Osamu Jareo (Dancer / Japan)
Megumi Kamimura (Dancer / Japan)
Chloe Tan (Dancer / Malaysia)
Silver Yee ( Dancer / Malaysia)
Kamal Sabran (Sound artist / Malaysia) and more