Japanese dance groups set the stage ablaze with Dance Dance Asia show

Dance Dance Asia – Crossing the Movements

Featuring:

TAPDANCERIZE

TOKYO GEGEGAY

s**t kingz

The show was done and all the performers took their bows a handful times already. But the audience still didn’t want to leave the auditorium and instead opted to dance inside turning the hall into an impromptu dance floor. This just summed up how successful the first show of the Philippine leg of Dance Dance Asia – Crossing the Movements held at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium at the RCBC Plaza.

Organized by the Japan Foundation's newly established Asia Center unit, the two night dance extravaganza featured the dance groups s**t kingz, TOKYOGEGEGAY and TAPDANCERIZE with the goal of connecting various people and cultures among Asia through dance.

TAPDANCERIZE's Satomi Toma, Yozo, Shinsuke Sada, Jun'ichi Sunayama,
Takeru Yamazaki, Gunjo, and Yuji Uragami with some of the organizers

The show opened with TAPDANCERIZE, a trio of tap dancers composed of Yuji Uragami aka Suji Tap, Gunjo and Satomi Toma accompanied by a four piece band made up of guitarist Shinsuke Sada, pianist Takeru Yamazaki, saxophonist Yozo, and bassist Jun’ichi Sunayama. At first glance, one might find it odd that a band accompanying dancers has no drummer/percussionist. But it was the tap dancers themselves who provided the beats and other percussive touches that made their set, entitled Simply Full of Tap, a truly engaging and entertaining one. Solos from each dancer showed off his/her individual tap dancing style: Satomi Toma with her clean lines and a more jazzy style, Gunjo’s showing his strong breakdancing background when he incorporated floor work into his solos, and Suji Tap’s wicked and unearthly footwork with his duel with pianist Takeru Yamazaki. Their set ended with a number set to Michael Jackson’s Heal the World that resulted with the audience rising to their feet which wouldn’t be the last time for the night.

TOKYO GEGEGAY's Mikey, Marie, Miku, Yuyu and Bow
with some audience members

TOKYO GEGEGAY’s showcase entitled TOKYO GEGEGAY – Konichiwa! Arigatou! Gay! provided theatrical flair to the typical(?) school day as the girls Bow, Marie, Miku and Yuyu go to their classes in Music, English, Science, Home Economics and Art taught by their teacher Mikey to almost disastrous results. Their number showed a range of different dance styles like pop and lock, slapstick, and even avant garde using an equally eclectic selection of music from Björk, the Swingle Singers, some Japanese tunes that may have included the theme song from the anime Doraemon, and of course, the off key singing of Bow of all things. Bow, the comic relief of the group, proved to be a huge hit among the audience. I think that the group’s brand of humor, edgy and daring sense of fashion, and bits of raunchiness (the banana, the bleeped out words, and the dominatrix Mikey at the end) made them appeal more to the younger crowd.

s**t kingz's shoji, NOPPO, oguri, and kazuki

The last group to perform was the s**t kingz with the SK show, a compilation of their various routines through the years. Right from the start, the quartet composed of shoji, kazuki, NOPPO and oguri showed flair with their opening number set to Matt Morris’ Love. Their group dance numbers pay attention to details like quick formation changes and pair/group work, enabling each member to have his moment in the spotlight. Intricate choreography was exhibited in the number featuring Gotye’s (feat. Kimbra) Somebody That I Used to Know with the trio, each personifying an emotion, NOPPO for joy, shoji for sorrow and oguri for anger. Each member also had a solo number with kazuki dancing to Michael Jackson’s Leave Me Alone with the lighting design used to great effect emphasizing his alternating drunk and sober moments. Women in the audience couldn’t help but scream when oguri took to the stage with his solo as a love struck guy using Ms. Seductive by Jeff Bernat for his music. This was followed by a humorous bit of a fumbling waiter (NOPPO) and two rivaling diners (oguri and shoji). A relaxed and suave NOPPO performed his solo, still in his waiter attire, to a jazzy cover of Suit & Tie by the Step Kids. The last solo was by shoji who also made the women swoon with his slick moves to Justin Timberlake’s Strawberry Bubblegum. This was immediately followed by the group’s final number that had a clever use of clothing (suspenders, vests, handkerchiefs, hats) and even a hat rack as props as the guys dressed up in stylish vintage clothing and prompting the audience to groove along with them to the music of Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars.

After the show, while the members of the audience patiently awaited the groups for a meet and greet at the lobby, I heard several discussions as to which of the three groups they liked the best. As for me, the use of live music really sealed the deal for TAPDANCERIZE to emerge as my favorite group from the show. It was the combination of the impressive technical skills of the dancers, the irreplaceable, organic feel of live music, and the interaction between the dancers and the musicians that made their set come out on top for me.

Dance Dance Asia – Crossing the Movements by the Japan Foundation Asia Center is said to be just the first salvo of a long term commitment in bridging people and cultures not just through dance but also through various fields like music, theater, film and sport. With the rousing success of this show, as well as the two day workshops given by the three groups prior to their performances, there is no doubt that Dance Dance Asia will be one of the most highly anticipated dance events in the country in the coming years.