So, my six-moth adventure to down under ended with 10-day stop over to Tokyo on my way back home. It has been five years since I lived in Japan for an year, and this was the first time to come back. It goes without saying that returning to this special place brought back heaps of good memories and that I was delighted to meet many of my old Japanese friends and spend some time with them. The short visit made me realize how much I missed the country, the people and the culture.
One of my dancing friends from Brisbane visits Tokyo quite frequently and told me that there was a small Zouk community to be found from the city. I, of course, had to check that out and see how the Japanese dance my beloved dance style. And what a warm welcome I got! I was able to make friends with many amazing and friendly individuals during my short but intensive visit, dance many great dances, take part to a Zouk class and even give a class of my own!
Everything started with Saturday's Zouk party, Paraiso de Zouk, organized by Tokyo ZOUK Scene. I took with me my best Japanese friend who was hosting me during my stay and we had a blast. The party wasn't that big and it was more Lambada style of Zouk, but what made the night especially great was that the dancers took us into their group with open arms. While we were getting home by train one of the dancers invited me and my friend to come to sailing with him and his friends the next day. Since we didn't have much planned, we woke up early the next morning and had beautiful Sunday in the sea with our new friends (some nice dancing included!).
As you might know, space is quite limited in Tokyo and so the places to dance are pretty small. Many of the social dancing events and dance classes are held in small clubs around Tokyo. After the sailing day I wanted to check out a Zouk class and to dance again with my new friends and so I found a beginner class followed with social dancing in a small club in Shinjuku. After the class I was chatting to the local teacher throwing an idea of giving a ladies styling class and, can you believe, he organized everything for me and only two days later I was teaching a class of twenty-something dancers! Many of the attendees skipped their normal dance classes or cancelled their other plans just to make it to my class and I even got some male dancers to my ladies styling! I was astonished. Such a short notice and so many dancers. These dancers wanted to learn from me just after seeing me dance in the couple social dancing events I went to. The class was kind of exciting experience for me since it was my first own dance class that I taught. I loved sharing my knowledge and the feedback I got couldn't have made me happier. Everybody seemed to enjoy my class and I believe I was able to give something new to everyone.
It was interesting to notice that almost all of the female dancers in Tokyo also learn to lead. This also resulted me being a leader for many times. Great challenge after not leading for ages! Some other general notes from the Zouk scene are that even though the scene is quite small there are many opportunities to dance Zouk. What they are lacking, though, is professional Zouk teachers. However, people seem to be ready to learn and they are open to try out new things. So, if you ever happen to go to Tokyo, I advice you to go and meet these dancers! They have such a friendly and warm dance community.
To end, I want to tell about one special dancer who I met during my visit. What a gentleman, passionate dancer and big soul he is. It was that instant dance click that we had and he became somehow close to me during the short time we had. It is unbelievable how bad it can feel to say goodbye to someone who I just met. This is what dancing does; it opens doors to a deeper connection between individuals. I can't wait the next time to dance with him.
Also, a huge thanks belongs to my best friend for hosting me and for coming to all the dance events with me! I really need to go back to this city and to these people more often.
