TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1999

Impersonator leaves CSULB takes dancing to bigger stage

By Michael Cherico

Special to the On-Line Forty-Niner

The guy is crazy.

If you've ever seen Tatsuro Abe dance like Michael Jackson in front of University Bookstore at Cal State Long Beach, you know exactly what I am talking about.

The 20-something Japanese exchange student has been missing from our campus for a little while.

Always greeting you with a smile, entertainer Tatsuro has a spirit that is missed at a somewhat apathetic campus.

So, where did he go?

From dancing for MTV to enrolling in a new institution of higher learning, the Michael Jackson impersonator has been keeping his shiny glove and dancing shoes busy.

At 5-foot-4, Tatsuro wears his favorite familiar yellow-and-red bike jersey with tight black jeans that led down to his black authentic MJ black penny-loafers.

Opting to perform through the peak hours of foot traffic, Tatsuro penciled me in for a ten minute break after 3 p.m. When I finally got to sit down with the sweating Tatsuro, we let the tape roll and watched the ladies flock.

Despite having never seen Michael Jackson in person, Tatsuro's skills closely resemble that of the King of Pop.

If given the opportunity to choose from a dream date with Michael or Janet, Tatsuro would choose Janet.

A native of Tokyo, Japan, Tatsuro spent his first few years in the United States as a dance major at CSULB.

His more recent days have been spent at Acting School for Theater Arts and at Fox studios as "the middle monster with the black stripe ... but it's fake," in the children's show "The Power Rangers."

And while the Rangers have been putting his quickness to use as a punching post for the Red Ranger, MTV has also been cuttin' checks for the CSULB wonder kid. Tatsuro can be found dancing in the background of five different promotional videos for the network.

Equipped with a new no-nonsense attitude, Tatsuro is on the verge of a huge industry breakthrough. His dancing habits have sent him to dance on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica as a fixture in the crowd of local weekend warriors.

The $50 spent buying a permit to perform in Santa Monica was covered in the first few hours of his act.

"I dance for two hours I make about forty to fifty bucks for an hour," he said.

Performing for talent shows on television has also been profitable. Tatsuro once pulled in five hundred big ones by winning the "Extreme Gong Show."

Equipped with a brown belt in Kung Fu, Tatsuro is making a bid for work in Jackie Chan's next movie. His quickness and agility combined with natural Japanese features make him a perfect stand in for Jackie on his upcoming sequel, "Rush Hour II."

Despite the flack received from the public, Tatsuro's nature allows him to rise above levels immaturity.

He follows a philosophy of, "Don't count the bad ones, count the good ones."