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news
Dancer
overcomes her size
By Alisha Gomez
On-line Forty-Niner
Despite the fact
that she is the only one in her family to venture to America,
she has become one of only four non-citizens out of 111 students
to study dance as of the fall 2001 semester.
Naoko Morita, a
senior dance major at Cal State Long Beach, is not the typical
size for a dancer, standing as tall as she can at 4 feet 11
inches, but she says her height does not seem to be a barrier
for her.
Morita has traveled
a long way to study modern dance. She says her hometown, Saitama,
Japan, is very similar to New York.
"There are
more people outside, working on the street in Japan,"
Morita says. "It is very similar to New York."
Doug Nielsen, an
associate professor of dance, has worked with Morita for awhile
and seen her work ethic. Most recently, he worked with her
on her solo for the Undergraduate Contemporary Dance Concert.
"She has a
personal drive that distinguishes her from others," Nielsen
says. "The fact that she did a solo [at the Undergraduate
Contemporary Dance Concert] says she is fearless."
For most of her
life, she studied jazz in Japan. After high school she moved
out to Pasadena on her own and continued studying jazz. She
began ballet lessons at Petite Ballet in La Canada under Jamie
Nichols, a 50-year-old instructor, who Morita says still "moves
so good."
Even though Morita
had ties with jazz, she was swept away by modern dance when
she saw "Romeo and Juliet" in Germany performed
in a modern dance version and at that moment she knew that's
what she wanted to study.
"It looked
so different from a regular jazz concert," Morita says
about the "Romeo and Juliet" performance. "I
had never seen anything like it -- it inspired me."
Nichols is the
one who encouraged Morita to attend CSULB for dance. She transferred
in spring 2000 and recently performed at the Undergraduate
Contemporary Dance Concert this past March, where she performed
her solo, titled Gaibu Sekai, which means outside world. In
it, she used a blanket as prop for her, which she had thought
was very funny at the time due to the strange concept.
"She takes
a risk and is never satisfied," Nielsen says about Morita's
dancing. "Even when her dance was finished, every night
she performed it, she would ask me for feedback afterward.
She is always striving."
The limited number
of international students is not an obstacle, Morita said.
She likes CSULB more than Pasadena City College because she
is forced to speak English.
"I had more
Japanese friends at Pasadena City College and here I have
to speak English because I only have two Japanese friends,"
Morita says.
Her first idea
for performing was for musicals, but Morita soon learned this
would be harder than she thought.
"I always
liked musicals, and I used to audition for them and get so
close," Morita says. "Then I would get to the part
where I have to sing, and I knew I could not sing. I would
almost get the position, but in the end didn't because I had
to sing."
Now she is focusing
on finishing college and her future. She wants the experience
of being a professional dancer and use that for possibly getting
a master's. She would love to work as an artistic director
for a company later in her life.
"I never thought
of getting a degree," she says, "but at one point
I realized that jazz dancing was more for entertainment and
commercial."
This changed her
mind about jazz since she knew dance companies and auditions
looked for tall girls with that right look.
"There are
few opportunities for modern dancers in Japan," Morita
says. "I want to do modern dance. It is more open to
all people, even short dancers like me."
Nielsen agrees
with Morita on this. He says modern dance companies have more
diversity in body types. Modern dancing is more embracing
of individuality, he says.
Nielsen says that
even though Morita is small, she works three times that size
as a performer.
"She works
as if she is another size and on stage, she looks big,"
he says.
Her family (a brother,
sister and parents) is in Japan waiting for her return after
she graduates next fall.
"I miss them
and I appreciate my parents," she says. "If didn't
get the support from them, I couldn't do this."
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