MESSAGE08

踊りとは、いろいろな喜びに満ちた、
人間へのプレゼント中村 恩恵 舞踊家

Dance is a gift to human beings,
a gift that is full of so much joyNAKAMURA Megumi Choreographer ＆ Dancer

I'm NAKAMURA Megumi. Many congratulations on the 20th Anniversary of the New National Theatre, Tokyo!

【Impression of the dancers of the National Ballet of Japan】

I’ve just attended another class with the National Ballet of Japan. My lasting impression was that the dancers were all so very kind. Attending this class together with dancers of all ages, from teenagers to veterans, was such great fun; it brought back all sorts of sensations, memories and scenes from when I had just joined a ballet company as a youngster. It was really fantastic to see the dancers all working hard to improve themselves, and mastering their skills while they enjoyed dancing.

【The Role of the Theatre】

I think we all, somewhere inside, are looking for moments that are out of the ordinary. The illusory world of the theatre presents a way of living that is unlike everyday life. A single person can play several characters and live several lives, and in the process, can remove the barriers that dictate how that person should be. For a performer, this is a wonderful thing. Also at the same time, for the audience, it means that they can live different lives from their own, by watching a performance and feeling empathy in the space we call the theatre. This, I think, is the attraction of theatre, and the great joy of being involved in this profession.

【What Dance means to me】

For me, dancing has been a source of joy ever since I was a child; it has made me feel as though I were transformed into a bird and flying freely through the air. Perhaps other professions are like that as well, but I really feel as if I have grown wings and am flying through the air when I dance.

Camille Claudel, a sculptor who created a statuette called “The Waltz”, once wrote about a folk dance called “Walzer” from which the waltz developed. Humans were originally “whole beings” with no distinction between the genders, but one day, Jupiter divided them into males and females. This gave people a feeling of loneliness, as if something was always missing inside. When Venus, the goddess of love, saw this, she gave humans the gift of a dance called the waltz. In it, a man and a woman would join together and dance while turning, like the earth orbiting the sun. It was only then that humans could feel a sense of unity and happiness as “whole beings”.

I definitely think dance has the power to heal and provide comfort for feelings of loneliness or existential anxiety that cannot be overcome through normal efforts – if only in the moments when we are dancing. It feels like a gift to human beings, a gift that is full of so much joy.