The Place presents RONiN by Yukiko Masui – on a major UK Tour

Audiences across the UK are invited to step into an anime-inspired world where movement and technology collide. RONiN follows a fearless woman swordfighter as she faces off against powerful adversaries, challenging both herself and those who stand in her path.

Inspired by the legacy of Japan’s ‘ronin’—masterless samurai who lived by their own code—this new work is a collaboration between award-winning choreographer Yukiko Masui and digital artist Barret Hodgson. Produced by The Place, RONiN fuses contemporary dance, swordplay and cutting-edge projections to create an immersive, visually stunning performance that charts the journey of an unlikely hero navigating honour, resilience and survival in a male-dominated world.

Travelling through Japan’s four seasons, from spring cherry blossoms to winter’s silent snowfall, RONiN immerses audiences in a realm where tradition meets technology. With 9 UK tour dates, this bold, unforgettable work promises to captivate audiences nationwide.

Choreographer Yukiko Masui, a Work Place Artist at The Place, is the recipient of a DanceXchange Choreography Award and an Akram Khan Mentoring Award from Sky Arts. Her work spans theatre and dance, with choreography and movement direction credits including Miss Julie (Southwark Playhouse), Toy Show the Musical (RTE), A Little Night Music (Storyhouse), Say Yes to Tess (Leeds Playhouse), Guy: A New Musical (The Bunker), Taming of the Shrew for Two Gents, and Urinetown (London College of Music).

Masui has created work for leading dance organisations including National Dance Company Wales, Dance Umbrella, Norrdans, National Youth Dance Wales, and major training institutions such as London Contemporary Dance School, NSCD, London Studio Centre, and Trinity Laban. Her own choreographic works have been commissioned and toured internationally by organisations including Birmingham Hippodrome and Norrlands Opera.

She is co-founder of SAY, associate artists at DanceEast, whose internationally touring work includes the album. Most recently, Masui was movement director for Romeo and Juliet starring Tom Holland at the Duke of York’s Theatre, and The Effect, directed by Jamie Lloyd, at the National Theatre and The Shed, New York.

For RONiN,Yukiko Masui crafts an intense physical language that fuses contemporary dance with martial precision, drawing on her own multifaceted journey through dance, martial arts and a lifelong love of anime. During the pandemic, Masui reflected deeply on what she missed most in her practice: a sense of purpose, connection and the supportive strength of community. This reflection led her back to her roots in Kendo, a discipline she once captained in Japan, and to a renewed collaboration with her sword teacher and long-time friend Kashmir Leese, recently a stunt performer in Rings of Power and Wicked, who serves as Sword and Stunt Specialist for the production.

To bring the sensory-rich, anime-inspired world of RONiN to life, Yukiko Masui collaborates with award-winning digital projection artist Barret Hodgson. A specialist in projection mapping, Hodgson brings extensive experience working with dancers and choreographers across theatre, dance, opera and music. His practice centres on close collaboration with composers, visual artists and performers to create work that is both conceptually rigorous and emotionally resonant.

Together, Masui and Hodgson have developed an immersive environment that transforms the stage into a vivid, animated landscape. Dynamic projection mapping enhances each scene, intensifying every movement and duel, and drawing audiences into a world where tradition and technology intersect, creating a powerful, visually striking narrative that resonates across cultures and generations.