Dancer, choreographer and "Dancing Activist", Kaoru Ikeda, originally from Japan, graduated from Nihon University College of Art, BA and New York University Tisch School of the Arts, MFA in Dance. She has trained, performed, choreographed, and taught dance ranging from classic ballet to Butoh to modern dance. Her work has taken her to the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and Mexico where she had an artist residency in 2012 and in 2016 toured with Soliloquios y Diálogos Bailados in Mexico City for their 25th anniversary, and with 18th Muestra Internacional de Danza Oaxaca in Oaxaca. Her choreographic works have been reviewed as "perfectly realized dance" (offoffoffdance) and "moving poetry" (Eyes on Arts). As a dancer, she has worked with Gloria McLean/Lifedance, Laura Shapiro/quicksilverdance, Aviva Geismer/Drastic Action. Her international experiences have taught her that dance can cross any border and break through cultural barriers to speak to all people, no matter how different we think we are. She founded MoustacheCat Dance in 2015 to fight against prejudice through dance.