Yes!! We Dance 2023

 We did it!! It's done! Yes We Dance 2023 happened and I was a part of it!

I'm feeling so many emotions and don't even know how to put into words how amazing of a day and experience this was for me. 

So, I guess I'll start by going through the day! It was my first day of Saturday classes for the new work school year. I had to get up extra early and do almost my full makeup for the YWD performance in the morning. I packed up my bag with my costumes, makeup, shoes, and camera the night before. 

My first 2 classes are the same class level back-to-back, and all of the students who I was told were a bit difficult ended up leaving the class before the semester started! The first class was supposed to be 10 students, but it went down to 6 sweet girls. The second was only 2 students, but only one came. And my assistant for these 2 classes is really experienced and super nice, helpful, and easy to work with. Actually, all of the people I work with on Saturday are awesome! Then, after those 2 classes, in my schedule there is a writing class but it has 0 students, so I have a long lunch break...which meant finishing touches on makeup, and practicing the shine parts of my dance routines!

My afternoon classes were also all really good kids, and I found out that all the naughty students also left these classes! From 10 rowdy kids to 6 manageable kids. One of the classes has some girls who do dance, so I used stretching as a warm up for the class (and for me XD). Then, I found out that since I'm using the biggest room, and another teacher's class at the end of the day is really big, I actually HAVE to leave my classroom after my last class super quickly, and don't have to worry about cleaning up, so I was out the door at 4:50!

My goal was catching a 5:04 express train, but there was also a 4:56 train...I SPRINTED to the station and I actually got it! Another random bit of luck, as I was about to get off the train, right before the doors opened, my phone strap broke and my phone fell.  If it had broken seconds later, it would have been on the train tracks! 

Shibuya was super crowded, so I wasn't able to make another super early train, but I still caught an earlier train to Toritsu Daigaku station than I would have if I hadn't caught that first earlier express train. I realized about 2 stops away that I had gotten on the wrong end of the train, so I had to get from car 1 to 8. One stop before mine, I got off the train and ran along the platform to get past the people and get to the other side. Actually, my friend Kasumi who was on her way to come see Yes We Dance was on that train, and she thought that I might have made a mistake and gotten off at the wrong stop! She called and messaged me, but I didn't see until I was at the hall XD It was a funny coincidence, and nice that she was ready to help me!

I actually practiced getting to the hall from the station earlier that week so I wouldn't need to check maps or anything, just get off the train and go!  I made it to the hall at 5:44 (audience can enter from 5:45 and my original goal was arrive at about 6, show starting at 6:30).  As soon as I arrived, I found some of my fellow dancers, figured out where the stage was and where I should enter from for each dance, then I grabbed all of my partners and practiced our dance bits and practiced the whole dances in the hallway backstage. At one point, I asked for a red bull, and one of the girls got one for me, and I was soooo thankful, and that specific moment was caught on camera 😆

 Then, it was already go-time! We headed backstage, and one of my 3 dances was the first to go! We all cheered for a video and there were photographers, then we were lining up and the emcee was beginning. I didn't even have much time to be nervous! As soon as my first team was called, "Classically Caliente", I snapped into ready-to-dance mode! I'd never felt that kind of feeling before, I was not dreading going on stage as I usually did, I was ready to put on a show and excited to dance! I did well, but there was one little part where me and my partner messed up the timing but we handled it well, I didn't panic and kept the smile on. It was over so quickly! 

Then, I didn't have time to think, I had to run and change into my next costume for our bachata dance. I was performing in dances number 1, 3, and 5. It was go-time for our team the "Nine Deadly Sins"! I was perfect!  I even got my split back for this dance.  I'm never gonna lose it again! 

Then the last dance was the advanced salsa class, and almost all the same members as bachata. This one was the most challenging dance to learn, but I got so much better at dancing because of it! It also was my favorite out of my 3 dances. And, we nailed it!!!

I'm da leader XD

The only 3 seconds that Benjamin was my partner 🥲

Zawachin, PARTNER we were awesome!!

Look at me spin! This was one of my favorite parts of this dance, and I'm glad Yuki was my partner for it cuz we were PERFECT 💖

And then the walkover, we were the first couple to get it during the lessons, and we were soo ready to show it off 😁

High 5 with Benjamin! I'm so glad this was captured on camera 😃

Then, I was done dancing. It was so fast! I grabbed my camera and then ran to the audience and took on my job as photographer for the rest of the first competition half, and also for the second performance half. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mori who are basically dance legends

Like seriously, they are AMAZING

Beautiful all-girls shine team Egoist

Their facial expressions were on point, and they made me wanna try to learn on 2 salsa more seriously 😍

This was the master class, and I think this song, dance, and costume was my favorite from the first half

Then it was time for the second part, where the teachers, Hiro and Taku, the Egoist all-girls shine group, and the master class dancers performed 4 dances in a row, to music all created by Taku. It was BREATHTAKINGLY awesome!!! They are all amazing dancers and the show was so fun! Like, I'm still in awe that I was sharing the same stage with these people, and that I get to just dance with them normally whenever we have social dances! I really get to dance with these pro-level people, like whenever I want, how lucky am I?? 🥰

The amazing Hiro and Taku!

And Hiro looking right at my camera 🥰

This was pretty magical

This dance was so fun to watch!

Taku apparently sewed this whole sheet thing on his own, and it was worth it cuz look at how cool it looks!! 🌊

The winner of the competition was announced at the end when we all gathered back on stage.....aaaaand Mr and Mrs. Mori won, and they sooooo deserved it! Actually, they were who I thought would win anyway. 😆 I saw them perform when I first came to an HTDC event for Halloween last year. They were so good! It was also a social dance, and I danced with Mr. Mori before they performed and I had no idea he was like a god-level dancer! Even though it was my first salsa/bachata social dance, he danced with me, was patient, and always smiling.  And, he still does now when we get to dance, but at least I suck less, and I'm not so shy because I know him, and actually can dance more salsa and bachata now! XD 

After the show, we could go out into the lobby and meet everyone who came. A bit of a bittersweet moment was that one of my best friends in the world, Chloe, who came to see me is leaving Japan, and this was the last time I'd get to see her. 

And then, the audience began trickling out, we took lots more photos together and got to take some flowers, then it was off to the after-party at the same place we had the bonenkai in Nakameguro! We were grouped by team for each table, so I was back and fourth between the advanced/bachata and upper salsa tables. I've hung out with the advanced/bachata squad a lot outside of lessons, and we're all really good friends. But, I hadn't really gotten to hang out with the upper crowd, and when I went over to talk with them for a bit, I felt so loved, everyone was telling me that I make them happy and so many nice things, I wanted to cry. I love you guys! 😭 We made plans to go dancing together!

Then, we went on for round 2 at a bar that the emcee owns, works at, I'm not really sure, I was just following the party! We danced a bit there, then at almost 4 am, I went to Benjamin's place (thank you 🙏💕) to crash.

Then, on Monday night during the time we'd have our usual social dance, we had the video watching party!  Hiro told me that she was glad that they chose me to be in the front for the salsa shine cuz I was so happy and smiley 😁 Ahhhh, to hear these kind of compliments from such an amazing dancer, like, I just can't believe it!

I did it, Yes, We Dance!! is over, and I did well for the first time!  That was my first of many more performances with Hiro and Taku. I have never felt more happy, or accepted, or more like I'm actually talented at something and have potential and motivation to become better at something, until now.

Thank you, so much, from the bottom of my heart, Hiro and Taku, and all of the wonderful beautiful dancers I have met through you 💕

Week in the life - Salsa, Theatre, Motegi Smith Band, and Parakeets

 Hello guys! I'm gonna do a week in the life kind of post because my life is really fun and I'm so happy right now BUT also super busy, and I can't even remember and keep up with my own thoughts, so I wanna catch them as they happen!

Monday 2/20:

The first full day I spent with our new bird Olive! We just got him on Sunday because husband is starting his new job, and it's my super busy time of year, so Mint needed a friend! 

The only plan I had this Monday was HTDC salsa open lesson from 8:15pm, without the social dance this week. On Mondays we have open lessons, so I don't know if it's gonna be a beginner lesson with a trial student, or if it will be just students from the upper salsa class until I get there. If it's just students from one specific class, we can practice that dance. No matter what, I always go though, because I love dancing, and it never hurts to brush up on the basics, plus Taku sometimes throws in fancy stuff for the more experienced follows, and I just love Hiro and Taku and their lessons in general, so I always wanna go! 

It ended up being 1 trial student, 1 girl from the upper class, and the 1 girl who joined recently from the restaurant, so 4 follows including me, and Taku, the only teacher that day as a lead, because Hiro was teaching the all-girl dance group at the same time. I was thinking of offering to try to be a lead, right as Taku asked me to try XD I know from swing dance that leading is not as easy as following, especially for me. Salsa as a follow came easily to me, so trying to lead was a real challenge! But, Taku was very patient with me, and even took the extra time and effort to try and explain in English what my hands and feet were supposed to be doing XD 

Tuesday 2/21:

My first work day of the week! Morning is kindergarten, then afternoon was the closing ceremony thing for a kid's production class I took over in the middle of the semester. Their performance was earlier this month, and they actually made me so proud I almost cried at one point, as I was watching them on stage. They surprised me and my assistant director (who I also love and have loved for a long time, so working with her made this even better) with flowers! And not just that, one of the students told me that they chose the flower colors specifically to match us, and she explained to me that the red was for my cute red glasses, orange for my (faded pink) hair, and yellow because of my bright personality 😭💕 So, I almost cried again...

Wednesday 2/22:

I had work, then salsa practice! Work was hard, but, fun as usual. Then salsa! So, we practiced the dance lots of times, and then we had just a few minutes left before the next class started, switched partners, and only me and one of the guys were ready to go and dance one last time. I thought we were all gonna give it one last go, but everyone else was kind of just like meh as the music started. So, the music started and we started dancing! Everyone was just watching, so Hiro and Taku were just like keep going, do the whole dance including the acrobatics part at the end (which only me and this partner have already successfully done with the full speed song before) and, wow. We did it!!! The end was perfect! But like, I didn't have time to be nervous about everyone watching before because I didn't know it was gonna be a performance in front of all the people (who also know this dance and have been doing salsa longer than I have), until we were already dancing and no one else was also dancing XD I kept getting distracted by everyone watching, and my stomach started to feel like actually sick while we danced, but I wanted to show off and do well at the same time. We nailed the ending at least XD 

After that, we went out to the little place we went last time to drink! I guess we've got a little tradition in the making XD 

Thursday 2/23:

This was the happyokai presentation day for Yoyogi's production class with Sky and Kaori and the amazing group of students who I've been with the past 2 years and love. 💕 It was a hectic, busy day, but we all did super well onstage!! I even think I did well 😆 I had a lot of fun doing this old lady makeup! We did Little Red Riding Hood, and I was Grandma. I hadn't done old lady makeup since I learned it in my makeup class in college. I'm glad I could still do it!  After it was over, Sky was awesome and let me leave a bit early (skipping part of the cleanup) to go to the Upper salsa class! They started to do the formation, movement, and assigned partners for Yes We Dance because one person is going to be out of the country for most of March, so it was a kind of important class. 

Friday 2/24: 

First work, then I went to el Cafe Latino for the first time and danced for 4 hours till my feet hurt and I literally couldn’t dance anymore. That’s saying A LOT because I’m always the one after lessons and social dances saying I still wanna dance! There were so many good dancers, at least 2 REALLY great leads who I danced with, and 2 who threw me around violently and tried to break every bone in my body, and then just one creepy dude (There's always one, but other people always have my back and keep me safe 😁). It started with an on 2 salsa lesson with Ryu who I tried a few other lessons with before. Then, it was a sensual bachata lesson, which is always good because I don’t know a lot of sensual bachata moves and tend to get all tangled and confused during bachata social dances. And then, I also finally got to dance a bachata and salsa on1 dance with Ryu! I’ve said it before, but always try dancing with the teachers, and he’s the one teacher I never caught for a dance, and I finally got him this day!

Saturday 2/25:

Work again, then Nakano on 2 salsa! The main teachers were out of town, so one of the other dancers who is always there and does check in and stuff did a little free mini lesson, and it was quite fun and there were balloons involved XD 

Sunday 2/26:

The first yearly big work happyokai end-of-the-year show out of 2! All of our classes that have been working on plays this semester have their performances spread across a bunch of different halls around the Kanto area for 2 Sundays. I only had one class performing this week, but that meant I had other duties... Luckily I wasn't leading a hall like I did in previous years, because that's A LOT of work, but I had to emcee the programs that my students weren't in. My class was amazing, they made me so proud! They were 6 and 7 year olds, so that's first year they perform on the big stage, and one of my students is a bit of trouble....but I love him, and I knew he would be great, and so I stood up for him when others said he was a bad kid, and I'm just so proud of how well he did! 🥰

Then, I totally forgot, but Motegi Smith Band also had a live that day! And, I was able to make it in time after work, so I went! It was in Akihabara. Husband and the Moband were in Kyoto and Osaka during this week, so I didn't get to see him much. So, even though I was ready to pass out from tiredness, I decided to go. Also, I hadn't had a chance to see a Moband live in a while, and I really truly love their lives, not just because my husband is their bassist XD I love all of the members, and their music is awesome! And, they improved! Like, they have all improved since I last saw them and it was especially noticeable since I hadn't gotten to see them live in a while. And then the weirdest thing I found out after, someone recognized me that night. A dad of one of my students is the booking person for that live house and recognized me!! Such a small world.

Life, Work, and, Club J Salsa with HTDC

 Hey guys! 

A lot has been happening lately! This time of year is when everything happens all at once, and then this year I've got my salsa on top of it all.

My work has its presentation days coming up during February and March. And, if you are like me and insane, but also passionate about your job, you also agreed to direct one of the mini production students' plays for the second year in a row, which is A LOT of extra work, but also super fun and rewarding. The students had their presentation last Sunday and they were AMAZING, and I actually almost cried at one point because I was so proud of how well they did. Plus, all of my coworkers for the production department of my job are THE BEST. But, I AM TIRED.

Anyway, that was on a Sunday which meant I missed salsa which was also super sad. Sundays are when I have all 3 of the dance classes I'm performing in for Yes We Dance, so I reallllly don't like missing Sundays. 

Fast forward to Wednesday, I had salsa and bachata class after work, then after that, the teachers and me along with one of the other students decided to get a drink together, which was super fun! I have drank with them before but it was always at our social dances, which meant that I was too busy dancing to really drink or talk so much, so it was really nice to get a chance to just laugh, talk, and drink together. Then, the girl who was waiting on us (and also the store manager I believe) heard us talking about salsa and said she used to dance! She decided to come to the upcoming Monday open lesson and social, and then she ended up joining the class! 

Monday's Club J (HTDC salsa social) was so fun! Of all the different social dances I've been to around Tokyo, the Club J ones with Hiro and Taku are my favorite. I know almost everyone there usually, because it's mostly HTDC people and their friends, they are all good dancers and cool people, we can bring our own food and drinks, and it's a good blend of salsa and bachata music. I always feel safe, happy, and comfortable. I even made Valentine's Day chocolate to share with everyone!

I actually successfully danced on 2 salsa with Taku! I asked him to dance, and he was like let's try on 2. It felt good that I was able to switch to on 2 so easily =D I also had been wanting to ask Hiro to dance, and I finally did (twice) and she is an amazing lead! I love everyone here, it was a blast! I wish this was every week, this is seriously my happy place and the highlight of my week.

We also did the salsa dance circle thingy again, which I now know is called rueda de casino, or some variation of those words... Anyway, I wasn't super confused like I was the last time (also my first time)! I was dancing with Taku, and he was kind of looking around the dance floor, and I was wondering why, then he yelled "dame!" which is the change partners thing for the circle dance and I was like, ok, I think I got this! XD It's funny because in Japanese the word 'dame' can mean like something along the lines of 'nope, I can't deal with this anymore', or like 'don't do that', and then that's when we change partners for this dance XD Anyway, I also got my dance with Taku that I asked for after that XD 

I'm so lucky to have these people and dancing in my life

First Salsa Music Live Show

 So, my Saturday nights are usually dedicated to the Chuo-sen on 2 salsa in Nakano, but last Saturday, I made an exception to go to my first live salsa music event with my HTDC salsa friends.

First of all, I just wanna say how awesome they are, and how happy and thankful I am to have them in my life now! I'm so happy to have found such fun, sweet, caring people who love dance as much as I do. 

This event was at Latin Club Leon in Shinjuku, and they have this live music event on the first Saturday of every month. It was so fun!!! Dancing to live music just hits differently. Like, you don't just hear the music, you really feel it. The energy of the band fuels you, then your energy fuels them. 

I got there a bit earlier than I'd thought I would, and messaged the group that I thought I was outside, but I couldn't figure out where to enter and was scared to go in, so Yoshiko, who got there early came out to grab me XD 

I got in, got a drink and chatted for a bit, then the rest of our crew arrived. Me and Benjamin were the first to take the dance floor! From then on, it was almost non-stop dancing. The band members also danced during their (DJ-ed) break time and were amazing! And they played a few live bachata songs too! Me and Alisa almost thought we'd misheard when they said their next live song would be bachata XD And, she asked me to dance and she can lead a bit, so we danced together.

Then after lots of music, fun, and dancing, everyone was ready to go, and so we all left together. Everyone else was taking the subway and not JR trains, so to stay with the group, I went home a different way than I usually would XD. I got to talk a lot with Alisa, and just, like how did I get to be so lucky to get this many cool friends from HTDC?? My best friend introduced me originally, his wife who introduced him to HTDC is also super awesome, I practically worship the HTDC teachers, and they believe in my dancing abilities and actually like me, and then I've gained a whole community of dance-loving, good friends! I love my life <3

Sub Store Koenji

 Recently I went to this really awesome cafe called Sub Store in Koenji. I had no idea such a place even existed, but it's so cool! Me and a good friend I met through dance (of course XD) met up in Koenji! Actually she is living in Beppu, but she came to Tokyo for a swing dance event, and that's how we met.

She was visiting Tokyo again, so we decided to meet up in Koenji! We didn't decide where exactly to go. I suggested All C's Cafe which is super cute and full of giant teddy bears and cute sweets and cookies (and regular food too), but it was a bit close to their closing time. She knew of a place that I'd never been! She said she tried to go before but they were closed. They were open for us luckily!

The food they had was apparently Indonesian, which I'd never tried before. We got a tofu thing and some other soybean based food thing that I forget the name of, and some AMAZING chicken soup. It was all delicious, and the people who worked there (and I believe also the owner) were super nice and friendly, spoke English, and answered our questions about the food and drinks.

We had quite a few drinks, and we talked about Japan and life, and a lot about dance! We met through swing, but she can of course salsa too! I was excited to talk to her about how obsessed I am XD 

I Will Perform in HTDC Yes We Dance April 8th 2023!!!

 So, a few more lucky things have fallen into place!

I got the yes from my company to miss that one last class of my next semester Saturday schedule!!! But, even missing that class, I would have had to RUN to the train and make zero transfer mistakes, and have no train delays to make it to the hall at almost exactly 5:45, when the group of performances I'd be in are supposed to be starting (plus I'm now performing in 3 dances, which might not be possible if I arrive so close to the start time)...BUT, Taku said that the schedule of performances wasn't set in stone yet, and they could ask the stage people to change it to 6:30 (really, just for me?? 🥺)

Then Hiro said to me, after my regular Wednesday advanced salsa and bachata classes, that if I wanted to, I can also take the upper class, learn their dance, and possibly perform their dance also (which is why I'm performing 3 dances now), because they needed some motivation and a little push to want to go onstage (and I'm the genki-est, most happy, dance and HTDC, obsessed girl on this planet currently XD), so I joined it also! I helped 4, maybe 5 people to commit to and say yes to performing in YWD! 

And, so then Sunday Jan 29th, after my upper salsa, advanced salsa, and THEN bachata classes (so from 1-3:30 dancing?) I went home. And then, at about 2:30pm on Monday, all the dance group Lines got a message that the starting time was changing from 5:45 to 6:30! They actually got the starting time changed!! For me?!?! 

I feel so loved and thankful right now. Dancing and HTDC, and all my fellow dancers I've met, and also my job for supporting this dream of mine and helping make it possible, and also my non-dance friends who let me go on and on about salsa, and letting me show off my dance videos and planning to see me perform, and then my best friend, Sky, (who I met through my awesome job) who got me into salsa and HTDC to begin with.

Ummm, if you want tickets and are free Saturday April 8th, let me know! Come see the thing that has recently taken my heart, body, time, life, and money XD