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Dance Education in Japan

On Sunday, November 14th, I had the opportunity to attend a combined dance recital at a local performance hall in Ogaki City. The woman I helped with the English concert ballet performance took Matt and me to watch her daughter (the cat from the video). It was her daughter's first performance en pointe, and even if I have serious reservations about 10-year-olds in pointe shoes, I was honored to be asked along. I just kept my mouth shut. Well, mostly.

Two ballet studios and one modern dance studio partnered to put on the recital. They performed in that order, and by the time the modern dancers took the stage, most of the people had cleared out. That reminded me of America, most definitely. It's not often that I see fully dedicated modern dance schools, so I will give Japan props for that. In many ways, modern dance is much closer to traditional Japanese dance roots than ballet, so it is considered less strange and as a result, it enjoys a bit more popularity. Usually studios in America teach modern, or their version of what I tend to call "ballet modern," one time a week. Ballet is simply the bread and butter of the small American dance studio, and every other dance form plays a supporting role at best. Until college, when most of us figure out we can't be ballet dancers because we don't have the body or the willingness to starve ourselves, and that modern is much more fun.

There are some very nice little dancers in Japan, for sure, and what I saw is only a small fraction of what is going on. I'm excited to see that people are putting their kids in dance school (there were a few boys dancing ballet too, I'm happy to report). The technical problems are those I see everywhere, no matter the culture: kids on pointe too early when they can't support the technique on demi-pointe; complete loss of turnout at every opportunity; bent legs and block feet that refuse to point. I am sure as they grow, they will learn to remedy these issues. I admit it, from a teacher's perspective, I do catch my breath in worry when I see a whole school of girls who can't get up on their pointe shoes fully. That's a lot of twisted ankles or worse just waiting to happen. Let's hope not.

As for choreography, most of it was very predictable: ballet phrase on one side, the other side, repeat ad nauseam. Some dancers looked effortless and lovely, some made me cringe and say to myself, "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. That is obviously difficult for you." Again, this is expected. Some people are genius dancers immediately and some are not; they work at it, and that's okay. I myself am in the latter category, so I have sympathy.

I did enjoy the performance of Romeo and Juliet one studio put on. I saw this production when I was living in Seattle last year, and it can be a gorgeous ballet. They used the original music which was nice, and of necessity they went through the whole story in about 20 minutes. It was on speed and danced by real teenagers. Quite interesting. I liked how the choreographer widened the concept of ballet for the performance, using a lot of simple gestures to convey meaning. The story came across very well, especially because the girl who played Juliet was a very talented actress. Watching the story with teenagers in the title roles brings home the ridiculousness of the whole star-crossed lovers thing. Anyone who has lived through that first teenage love knows that the devastation clears and that the next one is better. I ended up thinking, "Get over it, girl!" and re-running to myself the amazing comedy video on the subject by Second City, which you can find here.

The modern dance was heartening to see. It also was full of technical issues, but as I mentioned previously it was nice to see a full school dedicated to modern dance. The teacher choreographed numbers with all ages of students. It started with a simply adorable dance by very little kids. They acted like little monkeys, falling over and jumping up again with complete ease, striking tiny poses and flying like airplanes. The choreography seemed to go through weather patterns and then seasons, as the artist played with what movement would convey happy clouds, angry rain, and others. Most of the movement did not necessarily make sense to me as a cohesive unit - as in, I could tell there was supposed to be meaning behind the movement but I could not divine what that might be - until the choreographer and teacher stepped onto the stage. Immediately there was power, deliberation, brilliance. I was fascinated by her every movement. She was dynamite in every way. The simple act of standing spoke volumes.

It got me thinking about what makes a dancer interesting to watch and wondering if it can be taught, or if that is something you just have. I haven't made up my mind definitely on the subject, but it's something I'll be exploring in my own mind for awhile. I am excited to check out more performances that Gifu and the surrounding area has to offer, and possibly see who I can take class from! Stay tuned for more of my wanderings.

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