How did you first start dancing?

I started with classical ballet in grade 1 until I injured my tendon in grade 6. I started again in grade 9 because I really wanted to become a ballerina. I actually put down ballerina in my elementary school album as my dream. I was in the dance club in Junior High. We did the choreography, music, and editing ourselves. When I was in grade 10, I started taking contemporary dance class. I still did classical ballet, but I started doing contemporary too. Then in freshman year of University, I started break dance and house dance as well.

How were you then introduced to breaking and house?

I went to a freshman event. I didn't really want to go to this event because I liked classical dance more but some of my friends liked street dance and told me I should check it out with them. So I went and I saw a hand hop with music and I was like wow, so cool. I was so impressed. I think I was impressed by the possibility of the human body. When I went to classes for break dancing / street dancing club in University, I was interested in house more than breaking because bboys looked super scary and I was more comfortable with house dance.

So bboys came off as intimidating?

Yes, and I also saw their top rock and I wasn't impressed. I found house more soft and elegant. Still, I practised both house and break dance but I wasn't really into break dance during the first two years. So during the practice time in University I was doing more house but I would go to Shinjuku Station to talk and practice with the bboys.

Tell us about your first dance crew.

My first crew were my friends from school. We battled Ichigeki Crew in finals and it was so hype. But after a while, everyone had quit to find a job. But for me there was no quitting because I loved the dance. After, I met Yuri. We were very similar. We didn't have many bgirls in Tokyo, so we became friends and dance partners.

Are there more bgirls in Tokyo now? Why or why not?

Yes. I think it's because of the kids. Also, the society and economy is supporting it more. Before, it was like "You're doing break dance? Are you doing drugs?." When I started break dance, my mom hated it. I was wearing camouflage and my mom said "Don't wear that." It was just fashion for me but she thought it was a bad image.

Does your mom still find the hip hop scene "bad"? Has she changed her perspective?

After she watched me perform at Zepp Osaka with Qween of Qweenz, she told me that I was amazing. Her image of it was different until she watched me perform. Even my ballerina friends, they told me I'm very elegant when I dance and they didn't expect it.

If the dance is good, it's good - ii mona wa ii. Just because you're doing hip hop, it doesn't mean it's "bad." There shouldn't be bias.

You travelled to many places for dance, what has been your most memorable trip?

A 3-week trip to US in 2009, because that changed my dance life. I was going to quit and said this is my last one. I was not going to quit-quit, but back off a little bit and do it just for fun. That time was really busy for me, I got injured, and I started acupuncture school so I wanted to focus on that and thought okay, I'm going to be the supporter of the dancers.

Why did you want to quit dance at that time? What changed your mind?

I actually didn't like the Japanese bboy scene at the time. That time was all proper you know. You needed to top rock, foot work, and certain moves in order to win battles. It was all trends, and my style was not just trends. I couldn't do it because if the trend changes, are we going to change our style? If I change, and I don't like it, how do I keep going?

So at that time, they were saying if you want to win in Japan and around the world, you need to do that. So I tried - very proper footwork and very proper top rock - but it wasn't fun for me. Before I went to the US, I thought if this is what it meant to be a real bboy/bgirl, then I'm not a bgirl, I'm a dancer.

So when I went to the US, there were so many Mighty Zulu Kingz, Rock Steady Crew and so many people that the Japanese scene looked up to. I entered some competitions and Alien Ness of Zulu Kingz told me you're amazing. He and so many people told me I was amazing, so I thought after that, maybe I could keep going. Japanese thinking is very serious - it should be this way and we need to do this. It was a very different experience in US.

Has Japan's thinking changed since then?

I think they changed, and then they are back again. They changed, and became more open. But I think they are back to the old thinking again. I think there are reasons though. We have many systems to judge (breaking). It's easy to win by doing some proper ways which is good for spreading dance but at the same time, I don't want to see that battle system everywhere. One competition being judged like that is okay but not all.

The Japanese government will be making changes to soften / get rid of the fueiho law (anti-dancing law). What do you think about the fueiho?

I don't understand why they made it in the first place. I think there is something behind, which we can't know, in the government.

When I was teaching physical education, they actually changed the junior high curriculum for physical education. They made it mandatory to take street dance but they abandoned dancing in the public. It doesn't make sense. So let's say when the students learning street dance grow up, but where are they going to dance? It seems they were making the scene only in the daytime, and making money more public and not underground.

But I don't actually know, but I thought it was crazy. That's why street dance had a very bad image before. The media would say that people are doing bad things and drugs inside clubs. You can't connect the dancing with drugs.

You came to Vancouver from Tokyo in 2011, how do you think you have changed since then?

I think I'm not as straight (narrow-mind / societal pressure to act a certain way) - before I would think I have to do something and it would have to be done for sure. But the people I met here or in the non-Asian countries, they are more live-in-the-moment. First, I didn't get used to it. Like changing plans, I thought how can people change them but they told me if you don't want to do it then just change. You should be comfortable to do that. But Japanese or Asian, we plan it so we can't change it, even if we actually don't want to do that. So I follow my feelings more now.

I also got more gentle and became nicer to everyone. I didn't have time to think about other people and I got easily irritated when I was in Japan. It's chill here.

What are your goals in the future?

I want to dance as long as I can. 5 more years until I stop dancing. But I always say 5 more years (laughs). I feel good and young all the time.

In the end, I want to have my own conditioning clinic. I want to combine treatment and working out. I think people need to awaken their body, and not just dancers.

I also want to do it because whenever I went to the doctor during classical ballet, they tell me rest. But I thought I know, we need to stop and rest but we need to practice so what can we do? When I went to the chiropractor, they would actually do something - massage or taping. Dancing was everything in my childhood so I hope I can help dancers through treatment.

// Special thank you to Momo for sharing her journey and A. Donikowski for the amazing photos. //

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