Mamiko Nakatsugawa is originally from Miyagi, Japan. She graduated from SUNY Fredonia with BFA Dance Major and BA Theatre Arts minor in 2019, where she awarded Carnahan Jackson Dance Scholarship and James and Marcia Merrins Dance Award for artistic merit and promise. She worked with Matthew Westerby Dance Company as an apprentice and performed “ReNew 3” with the company in 2018. She appeared in musical theatre in Japan and United States; Anne of Green Gables (Japan tour ensemble), Cabaret (Kit Kat Girls), South Pacific (Liat). She is now pursuing her professional career with Jon Lehrer Dance Company as a full-time company member.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Tell us about your childhood in Japan.
MAMIKO NAKATSUGAWA
I was a very active child. My mom said that I started walking very early when I was young. I always was involved in some kind of sports team or activity while I was in school. I loved to go to long hiking with my father and dogs. I remember that I just have been loving physically active.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
What drew you to dance and the arts?
NAKATSUGAWA
I think art has always been there for me since when I was young, and it has been allowed and accepted in our family. We use to have paintings by my father on the wall, and I always loved to draw just imitating his painting. The main reason I started dancing is because of my sister’s scoliosis. She started gymnastics to strengthen her back, and I joined the first lesson, and since then I kept dancing in different styles, continuing my professional development. From the start, dancing was a different but the most organic way of expressing myself. Year by year, I felt the shift; “I like dance” became “I love dance” when I realized I could use my high athleticism to make something beautiful.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Since you have come to America, how has your dance practice expanded through education and collaboration with different dance companies and artists?
NAKATSUGAWA
I would say, if my level of collaborative and artistic practice in Japan was 1%, I feel like now it expanded like 85-90%. I feel like in the US, especially in New York, anything could be an art or the subject. Now, I feel like anything could be possible in art. Past collaborative works and seeing other artists work expands the idea of art in general. The collaborative choreography work I directed “What The World Sees”, I worked with various artists; a poet, actor, dancer, music editor, sound designer, lighting designer, photographer, and videographer. I got new knowledge about other fields of art, and the process of making it felt like making a big puzzle. Dancing in a professional repertory dance company opened my eyes to a deeper understanding of dance. Joining Jon Lehrer Dance Company was the most wonderful experience in my dancing carrier. I learned the importance of keeping the style in my body while I am dancing with all the details. I also learned how beautiful to share energy with who I admire; company members and the director.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
For you, what is the importance of dance, the arts, and live performance, and how might we better integrate the arts in our education systems?
NAKATSUGAWA
I consider dance is a living art. Art that is raw, real, and that exists only in the moment. A process of creating dance, the moment we dance, after we share our presence, there is always a community. I think dance reflects a lot of humanity in the modern world because it is an art that is expressed by real living human beings. I think the beauty of dance is that we can connect with temperatures, face to face, and eyes to eyes. Especially in this modern world, using dance as an education tool is very beneficial to encouraging people to re-connect deeply with themselves and others.
