The Unexpected: a Dance Company and a Marriage Proposal

I've been remiss in my blog duties as of late.  In the past month, there have been many new developments in my life in Japan, most notably an introduction to a marvelous company.  My adventure started on February 5th, when Matt and I went to see another dance concert.  Most of it was the average recital fair.  An even mix of ballet, modern, and contemporary, the evening did not fail to represent a dance form, which I admit was nice.  However, the ballet choreography ranked among the most boring I have ever seen, and the modern dance music gave melodrama an expanded definition.  One company in particular stood out to me by creating a work titled "War and the End of the World" that displayed a playful group of women maneuvering around each other with long bands.  Their innovative, physical movement called up modern, classical Japanese dance, and contact improvisation throughout the dance, as they formed ultimately destructive relationships.  The concepts of "war" and the "end of the world" were for once very loosely conceived instead of blatantly advertised using heavy music and camo costumes.  I was impressed with the choreographer's eye, by the dancers' technique, and by the use of CI.

After the show I decided to try and find the company, adorably named "ModernDance YouCo."  I turned to google maps first, and a quick search determined it was ostensibly located relatively near our home (a boon, given that another dance company one of Matt's students told me about was a 2-hour train ride away), although it appeared to be located in a predominantly residential neighborhood.  No cost information or class information was online at all, so Matt and I decided to take a bus out to the google maps address and see for ourselves what we could find.  A week later, on February 12th, we trekked out and ended up on the outskirts of Gifu, wandering around a neighborhood at a foot of a mountain that did not appear to have a dance studio in it.  My guess turned out to be right: the address was that of the director's home, and with no obvious signs, we weren't going to find it.  Oh well, I said, we'll just have to call.

We were just about to give up (having walked the neighborhood two times in search of anything telling) when a man and a woman walked out of a house close to the spot on the map where google placed the company.  After saying a shy hello and walking slowly ahead and across the street of the couple, Matt turned to me and explained, using a few expletives, that he hadn't come out for nothing and he was going to ask them about the company.  He did exactly that, and the surprised woman pointed to herself and said, "that's me!"  Imagine our surprise to hear that the woman we approached randomly - well, we did bus out to the address, so not altogether randomly - was the choreographer of the piece we saw!  Despite the fact that they were on their way out, they invited us in to the house to give us information on classes.  It gets better: the two had just been married the day before and offered us leftover wedding desserts as we talked!  It turned out that the house was the choreographer's mother's, who was the official director, and the two of them had just moved into an apartment not far away.  Also, they drove us home.      

I went to class that Tuesday and since then I've been five times.  I am getting my butt kicked again and it feels great to be getting back in dancing shape.  Classes involve everything: ballet barre, modern floorwork, across the floor ballet and modern combinations, improvisation, and some CI.  Soon I expect to learn some classical Japanese dance, as I've been asked to participate in a festival coming up in April.  That will definitely feature prominently on the blog, so watch closely.

And the marriage proposal?  Well, that happened today in a second-year class.  With extra time, the students got to ask me questions.  One precocious boy stood up and asked, completely straight-faced, "Will you marry me?"  I told him, "When you're 18."  He informed me, still with a straight face, that he would be 18 in four years.  So I suppose I am engaged to a 14-year-old now (sorry, Matt).  The rest of the time, when kids asked questions like "What is your boyfriend's name?" and "Who are you going with to Kyoto for spring break?" I pointed to my newly minted fiance.  He played along with great aplomb... at least, I think he was playing along.