Another Dance Concert, Turned Birthday Bash

I participated in another dance concert on December 18th, which also happened to be the Artistic Director's 68th birthday!  She's such a spunky woman who still dances like crazy and does handstands.  She looks at least 10 years younger than she is, and acts about 20 years younger.  I hope I am half as ambulatory and energetic as she is if I reach her age. We held her party at Godmother's, which is turning into one of our party mainstays.  We were served wonderful pizza and pasta, and apparently bought tons of sparkling wine near the end of the evening (Japanese people like to get their drink on, especially for birthdays and special events like dance concerts).

Let's go around the room.  First we have two little girls (of four).  These two were the older two, and also the more obnoxious two.  The one in stripes was completely insufferable during dinner.  She refused to eat any vegetables or healthy food, demanded several slices of pizza before anyone else was served (we had to forcibly take it away from her so everyone could have a slice), loaded up on fried potatoes and chicken, and ate three large pieces of birthday cake before the end of the night.  She's already got a bit of a pot-belly tummy which she likes to stick out while sway-arching her back, so, y'know, good luck in future dance companies, kid!  At school recently I had to read lots of essays about why the students can't be allowed to pack their own lunches for school.  The biggest reason?  They won't choose to pack healthy food.  I couldn't believe it until I saw this kid in action.  Now it's completely believable that mothers will just roll over and feed their kid whatever he or she demands, thus developing a lifetime of food neurosis and unwillingness to listen to parental authority.

The two on the left side of this picture are the mothers of the obnoxious kids.  The second one is the mother of the one with very unhealthy eating habits.  The closer woman's daughter is a lot less obnoxious, just hyper and a little weird.  I really love how mother and daughter have the same look on their faces in these two pictures.  On the right side of the picture are two girls in the company, Nadeshiko (in teal) and Mako (in white).  They are two young, quiet, and rather strange girls whose mothers have completely brainwashed them into thinking they are super fat and unattractive, when in reality they are both normal-sized and beautiful.

On the left are the two younger children with Yuko (the director) and Shio (her daughter).  These two were very cute and friendly, but also incredibly sleepy.  On the right is Rie with Yuko and Shio.  Rie is a lovely person with a delightful personality.  She doesn't have any weirdness about her like most other daughters in this culture.

In super-cute news, the picture on the left is my friend Sachiko with her almost 2-year-old daughter Io.  I think Sachiko will make a great mom as her daughter grows up.  She'll need her level head, because I'm sure little Iyo will be a challenge.  She's already got a very strong personality!  On the right, Matt makes his best "handsome" face.  I obviously didn't know he was doing that until later.

Here's my girls!  From L-R: me, Shio, Sachiko, and Yuri.  We are the four principal dancers of ModernDanceYou Co., and the four oldest.  We take company class together twice a week and it's so much fun.  They are wonderful people and they have become three of my closest friends in Gifu.  It's truly amazing how in one year, I have become like family to this company.  It's going to be the most difficult thing to leave when we go back to America.  I hope I can keep dancing with them somehow, maybe through some international performance grants or dance-for-camera collaborations....  I am not sure if it will work out, but I'm committed to trying, since I love these girls.