The company was formed in December 1996 by students at Chiba University and initially gave intermittent performances on the street and inside galleries. They changed their name to Study of Live works BANETO in December 1998 and thereafter, produced ambitious work that used dance, music and images as "live work" in the broad sense. They have appeared in numerous dance and performance festivals held in cities throughout the world receiving wide acclaim. In 2000, they won the Prix d'auteur du Conseil général de la Seine-Saint-Denis.