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--But you practiced choreo on land, at the riverbed.
K: Usually, I also dance on land as part of practice…For skating, I dance [laughter].
This season I had a program I planned to do with choreography that I didn’t want to forget even a little. That’s why I decided to practice choreo to put emotions into the program.
On the riverbed there were old men and various people but I danced by myself with earphones on. At first I was embarrassed but I got comfortable afterwards. They saw me as a dancing weirdo, but I didn’t care much.
E: I understand that you cannot really rotate there……
K: But we can practice rotational jumps such as double jumps and triple jumps.
E: Like doing a pirouette?
K: Ah, I did that too. I practiced rotating jumps, but it was limited to taking off a jump to rotate three times before landing.
E: To jump, rotate three times and land…. Is incredible. In fact, the triple pirouette itself is very hard.
K: I could practice jumps that way. However, when I’m in a spin my body rotates many more times on ice, so once I got on ice and did a spin, the centrifugal force was too much for me. At first I felt like my brain was flying out because I was overwhelmed by the centrifugal force, and I barely held my neck too.
E: I can never spin. If I tried, I would get dizzy and tip over. As a matter of fact, a spin is so much faster than a ballet rotation. Ballet dancers look in front of them when pirouetting. Can you tell me how to avoid dizziness?
K: Well… I get dizzy.
E: You do get dizzy! [laughter].
K: When I spin for the first time in a long time, I feel a little nauseous and dizzy. I have to keep practicing to get over it.
E: Some time ago, in a TV program Miki Ando was on the spinning table for a while as an experiment to find out how many rotations would make her dizzy. After spinning 1,000 times, it stopped spinning. She walked away just fine. It's a matter of getting used to it?
K: I watched that program too. I can probably do it, if I’ve been in the normal training situation. After a long interval, it is tough. You have to get used to it. Your inner ear balance is probably adjusted after a while.
**Skipping Emi’s story about her career as a singer and voice actress.
It’s easier for me to skate by portraying a character.
--Tanaka-san, when you perform, you depict how you see things? Or do you portray a character?
K: I suppose it is easier for me to skate by keeping someone in mind and portray that character. For this reason, I have a hard time imagining a character in classical music. Of course I can create a story and depict it, though.
E: “JoJo” was “JoJo!” [laughter]
K: “JoJo” was ….. Well, “JoJo” was “JoJo.”
E: Sorry for bringing it back again. I was so excited seeing “JoJo.”
K: I wanted to reenact the original character. I wanted the costume to be just like the one in the anime, without my arrangement. Fans liked it so I guess it was a clear success.
--It was like fan fiction.
K: When skating to the music used in an anime or movie, it is easier to express emotions….. by portraying a protagonist. Therefore, it is probably fan fiction.
E: I am not sure if it’s fan fiction. I suppose it is a genuine original creation as part of a media mix.
--Do you sometimes skate knowing you are in a character different from yourself?
K: In figure skating, I feel that the music we use is borrowed from somewhere, such as movies or dramas, and classical music as well. The original music is there and we are allowed to use it and we skate to it. All I can do is to understand the music and show my interpretation through my skate.
**Skipping Emi’s talk about Japanese tradition of cross-gender acting
--Tanaka-san, you impersonated
Chiemi Blouson. (t/n: Japanese comedian usually accompanied by two guys on her sides behind her. Her signature phrase is “35 million” in her punchline statements.)
K: Just for fun. In an ice show, I had makeup applied on my face, in Chiemi's style of costume and was a cross dresser.
E: You should have gotten two guys following you [laughter]. Chiemi retired from show business, though.
--You got “35 million” painted on your belly and flashed it.
K: I was a bit goofing around in the ice show.
E: Ice show is fun, isn’t it?
K: Unlike competition, anything goes in an ice show.
--You crossed your legs like a queen.
K: That’s right. I was sitting on a chair and made an entrance like this (gesture).
E: I want to see it by all means.
K: I would like the
video to be gone, since I consider it a dark past I want to forget.
E: Really? It went well as it was.
--You had a navy blue striped shirt on and wore a wig of bob with straight bangs.
E: Seriously?
K: I went out to buy my costume and it was shortly before the show. So I quickly made a choice and put it on.
--I heard that your thighs were too large for the skirt [laughter].
E: It couldn’t have been helped. You are an athlete after all.
--How about skating a program playing a female character?
K: Umm,..... Let me see. If I’m allowed to go up to a prank level, I can go all out.
If I were to compete that way, I would worry how far I should go. No matter how much I try, I’ll end up revealing who I am. Even if I’m forced to be a female, there is a limit.
**Skipping Emi’s talk about her different mindsets in voice acting girls and young boys.
- To be continued to page 3 -
It's so interesting to read Keiji's experience with coming back after the long break.
