Photo By Samuel Weldin | 160614-N-OK605-011 MISAWA, Japan (June 14, 2016) Taku Kawasaki leads a traditional...... read more read more
MISAWA, Japan (NNS) -- Children on Misawa Air Base are provided the unique opportunity to learn a traditional style of Japanese dance from Taku Kawasaki every Tuesday at Aviation Intermediate Maintenance Department (AIMD) Misawa.
Mrs. Kawasaki grew up in her hometown of Gonohe, Japan located in the Aomori prefecture, where her father was also the mayor. She learned to dance from her teachers in Tokyo in 1974 before coming back to Gonohe and opening her own school where she’s been the lead instructor for the past 42 years.
Eighteen years ago she began her relationship with Misawa Air Base by teaching the wife of Commander Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Misawa how to dance and it was from that point on that she started teaching service members and their children. Upon the disestablishment of NIOC Misawa in 2014, AIMD then supplied Mrs. Kawasaki a room to keep teaching dance to her many students on Misawa Air Base.
“I enjoy this very much, I love to come here and teach,” said Mrs. Kawasaki. “The more students the better.”
The children she teaches learn to dance and perform in traditional Japanese attire, provided by Mrs. Kawasaki as well. For girls it is the cultural kimono with umbrella, and the boys wear a more ninja-style outfit complete with katana and fans.
“What I like about the Japanese cultural dancing class is that it gives the children and adults exposure to our host country’s rich traditions and first-hand experience by living it out,” said Navy Chaplain Lt. James Hicks. “Taku-San doesn’t just teach them to dance. It is through the medium of dance that the children learn to appreciate something larger than themselves, which are the values and traditions of those around them.”
Mrs. Kawasaki’s dance class curriculum covers multiple forms of dance. First, there is the slower, more traditional style of dance that is performed to Japanese songs from different points in history. The second type of dance involves performing to modern pop songs and generally has a quicker and more upbeat style.
Despite the extreme contrasts in the music, she says the children enjoy it all the same.
“My daughter enjoys going to dance because she loves Taku-San so much.” Said Sherry Grahek, the mother of one of Kawasaki’s students. “Our family looks forward to the performances of all her students, American and especially Japanese.”
During January of each year her school hosts a large-scale dance concert in Gonohe, Japan where her American students join her Japanese students for a performance in front of a crowd of spectators. Her students will also perform in Hachinohe, Japan and several nearby nursing homes throughout the year.
“The elderly people just love seeing the young children have fun and dance beautifully,” said Kawasaki. “It brings smiles to their faces.”
| Date Taken: | 06.14.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.29.2016 01:25 |
| Story ID: | 202704 |
| Location: | MISAWA AIR BASE, AOMORI, JP |
| Web Views: | 133 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Mrs. Kawasaki’s School of Dance, by Samuel Weldin, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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