Natasha K. Foreman

Natasha K. Foreman is a musicologist, composer, and Part-Time Lecturer in Music History at Wayne State University. She specializes in Japanese music, dance-music analysis, music theory, and aesthetics, with a research focus on sonic embodiment, sonic afrofuturism, and Japanese butoh. She has held roles in both the Music and Anthropology departments at WSU and previously taught at Rikkyo University in Tokyo.

Education

• Ph.D. in Musicology/Ethnomusicology (secondary in Anthropology), Kent State University
• M.A. in Musicology/Ethnomusicology, Kent State University
• B.A. in Music Theory/Composition, St. Olaf College

Research Interests

Dr. Foreman's research spans the intersections of sound, movement, and identity. Her work delves into choreo-musical analysis, exploring how music and dance co-constitute meaning. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Japan, particularly on butoh and nagauta shamisen, and her creative output integrates composition with choreography. Her recent projects include The Sound of Butoh, an ethnomusicological investigation into the music of butoh performances globally.

Her book The Gei of Geisha (2008, 2016) is a foundational text in Japanese music studies, examining geisha identity through the lens of musical performance. She has also contributed chapters to major edited volumes and written extensively on geisha, Japanese dance, and performance theory.

Awards and Honors

• T. Temple Tuttle Prize (2002) – awarded for her paper on geisha and socio-artistic identities
• Pi Kappa Lambda – National Music Honor Society
• Phi Beta Delta – Honor Society for International Scholars
• Prix de la Ville de Fontainebleau Pour Thèorie (1992) – awarded by the French National Minister of Education

Grants and Residencies

• UPTF Professional Development Grant, Wayne State University (2019)
• WSU Humanities Center Faculty Fellowship (2004)
• Japan Performance Theory Workshop, University of Michigan (2017)
• Arts Asia Festival, University of Kentucky (2009)
• Le Conservatoire américain École des Beaux-Arts, Fontainebleau, France (1992)

Teaching and Outreach

At Wayne State University, Dr. Foreman teaches courses in early Western music history, world music, ear-training, Asian music, anthropology, and Japanese area studies. She also serves as a dance historian/educator at Ballet Detroit, a pre-professional Russian ballet school. She regularly gives pre-performance lectures at Carnegie Hall and the Japan Society in New York City.