Take a bow

Academy award moment.

The dancers were taking a bow as the audience applauded enthusiastically. Jo appeared on stage with flower bouquets. I assumed they were meant for the girls. But the first recipient was Shin, then Ayako, then finally Yuuta. Three bouquets for the three dancers who were soon leaving the company.

"He can’t possibly do that!" I thought. Tears came to eyes. I tried to repress them. Then the dancers turned to take a bow for the back side audience, where I was sitting. Shin was crying, so was Ayako. It was impossible then to contain myself and I wept silently as I applauded. That was their last performance in Niigata! Backstage, I went to them, but found myself sobbing when I embraced Ayako. I just couldn’t stop.

The show was followed by a talk with the audience and four of the dancers. This time, Shin, Aiishiro, Nobuko and Ayako. Each had to make a comment on how they felt about the new piece and their experience throughout the creative process.

It all went rather well until Ayako’s turn came. The lovely girl burst into tears and that was the beginning of an intense emotional moment both on stage and in the audience. Jo wasn’t spared either for he also struggled and fought his tears.

I’m nearly weeping now as I recall this moment.

This time in Niigata has seen me so bound to cry at any emotional charged moment. It’s good news, because I have that tendency to lock all the tension, unsaid and unexpressed feelings inside and let them root in my whole soul and body. Now I can evacuate when need be.

Excellent news indeed.

We had a after show dinner party at Nelson with most of the team. Goofy  pictures were taken by Sawako as she ‘learned’ to use her new camera…

My Japanese has improved, but not enough to sustain a decent conversation. And when all the dancers got together, it was impossible to join their merry talk. I promised myself the next year would see me master the language, or at least, being able to converse on a decent level.

I had the same feeling when English no longer seemed like a untamed animal to me and that I started enjoying daily progress. I’m not in school anymore so discipline will be required!

Once back at the hotel, I said I had to go back to the theatre to get the bike I left there because of the hard rain we had had the whole day. I didn’t feel like doing it the next morning. Jo offered to walk me back. Tsuyoshi joined and we started a long conversation that went on once we reached the hotel again. We sat in comfortable red leather armchairs in a corner of the lobby and talked until four o’clock in the morning. It was such a pleasant moment.

The hours passed by and it spite of our exhaustion we didn’t want to part. Topics were discussed one after the other. Tsuyoshi and Jo are so clever and such good conversationalists. A cleaning lady appeared form the upper floor and started vacuum the stairway. When she saw us, she asked whether we were new staff members waiting for our working time to start. We all sensed it was the right moment to go to sleep!

I’m happy I will be with Noism in Shizuoka and Tokyo. Leaving the next day straight to Paris would have been intolerable!