Connecting People Through Ballet: Kusakari Tamiyo / Actor, Former Ballerina

"Direct Talk"

Our guest today is Kusakari Tamiyo,

an actor and former ballerina.

Kusakari started ballet at a young age

and would go on to become the principal dancer of a Japanese ballet troupe.

And she's had an international career.

In particular, she's been a regular performer with ballet companies in Russia,

captivating audiences in a country known for producing world-class ballet.

During the COVID-19 pandemic,

she wanted to cheer people up through dance,

and began collaborating with dancers from different genres

to post videos to YouTube.

In summer 2022, she organized a charity performance in Japan

to provide aid to Ukraine's national ballet company,

which was in dire straits amid the Russian invasion.

Kusakari sees dance not just as performance,

but as an active way to get involved in society.

She shares her thoughts about being an artist.

In February 2022,

Russian troops began invading Ukraine.

It was a gut-wrenching development for Kusakari,

who's gotten to know people in both countries through ballet.

Not too long after the invasion began,

a dancer I'd worked with once

who used to be with Ukraine's national ballet company died.

He was killed by artillery fire.

His name was Artem Datsyshyn.

When I learned of his death on Facebook, it came as a big shock.

Datsyshyn had been a member of the National Ukrainian Ballet,

which has produced many star dancers over the years.

But after the war broke out, the country's national theater was closed,

and all performances canceled.

90 out of the company's 120 members fled the country.

Among them was an acquaintance of Kusakari's.

The troupe's assistant artistic director, Terada Nobuhiro.

I remember my first thought being,

I wonder how Terada is doing.

Is he all right?

I felt compelled to reach out to him, so I got in touch.

He told me about everything that was going on,

and I started thinking that we could hold a charity performance.

If we could get dancers from Japan and from Kyiv

to come together to perform on stage,

maybe we could inspire our audience to provide their generous support,

and also to think about those in need.

For Kusakari, who has performed with Russian ballet companies over the years,

the decision to support a Ukrainian ballet company was far from simple.

When it comes to war…

when you think about it…

I think it's only natural to take the view

that the aggressor is the party who is at fault.

That being said, does everyone in Russia feel the same way about this war?

I don't think that's the case.

But ultimately,

my thinking is that our focus should be on helping those people in need.

First and foremost.

The worst thing you can do is turn a blind eye.

Kusakari decided to hold a charity performance

to raise funds for the National Ukrainian Ballet.

Within a month, she was able to secure sponsorship for the event.

For a while, I was working 18-hour days,

basically doing the work of three people.

She invited about 1,800 people to attend the performance free of charge,

with donations collected at the venue.

She personally reached out to Japanese ballet dancers

based domestically and abroad,

with 19 agreeing to take to the stage.

They performed excerpts from ballet such as "The Two Pigeons,"

in which a dove made an appearance as a plea for peace in Ukraine.

For the finale, two principal dancers

from the National Ukrainian Ballet took to the stage.

Nikita Sukhorukov and Anna Muromtseva.

They performed a duet from "The Forest Song,"

a ballet written, scored, and choreographed by Ukrainian artists.

Since the Russian invasion began,

Ukrainian ballet companies have stopped performing Russian-written works.

People say art knows no borders, but really, those borders exist.

Ukrainian dancers can't perform classic Russian ballet right now.

If they did, it'd cause an uproar.

That's the reality of the situation they're in.

But personally, I think it's important in a situation like this

to try to consider what it means to say that art has no borders.

Kusakari has been exploring different ways

of getting involved in society as an artist.

When you get down to it,

you have to convey the reality of what's going on in society.

Otherwise, no matter how hard you dance,

the impact you make will be reduced to about half.

There's this perception out there that you shouldn't talk

about politics openly or too much

because everyone has their own differing views.

Lots of people think that way.

But you have to perform with intent.

At the very least, you have to convey what's going on,

and show some sort of resolve.

Otherwise, why are you an artist?

Why are you dancing?

Why are you performing theater?

It all ties together.

It's actually all those things that add up to make an artist who they are.

That's what I find myself thinking.

Kusakari started ballet when she was eight.

At 21, she won first prize in the National Dance Competition of Japan.

As a principal dancer for a prestigious ballet troupe,

she became one of Japan's leading ballerinas.

At 30, she made her acting debut,

starring in the comedy-drama "Shall We Dance?"

The film was shown in 19 countries and expanded her horizons as an artist.

Starting in 1997,

she was a guest performer with the Mikhailovsky Ballet for over a decade,

paving the way for Japanese ballerinas to perform on the international stage.

Through her dedication to dance,

she developed a repertoire spanning both classical and contemporary ballet.

Then at 44,

she made the decision to retire as a professional ballerina.

After dancing for all those years,

I started taking stock of what I could do.

Yes, I could dance in toe shoes.

Yes, I knew how to dance. And yes, I'd done some acting work.

But that wasn't all.

I was thinking about how I'd led my life.

It was time for me to take stock of what I'd gotten out of my career,

and see if I could somehow start putting things together,

make use of what I'd gained.

And it didn't have to be about doing something on stage.

I suppose that's something you really aren't able to do

until you've reached my age.

So I remember thinking I ought to be more proactive

about taking on new challenges.

In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold,

Kusakari began to feel that dancers needed

to get more actively involved in society.

I would see athletes on the news talking about

how it was a chance to start exercising.

They were teaching viewers simple exercises and things like that.

But I saw barely any dancers putting themselves out there like that.

And I started thinking,

dancers should embrace the pandemic as an opportunity.

They should be out there,

creating the kind of work that only dancers can at a time like this.

Wanting to bring positivity to people's lives through dance,

Kusakari reached out to dancers from different genres

to collaborate on content for YouTube.

Kusakari hoped to get the next generation of dancers involved.

I did it because I thought it would be very worthwhile to create a space like that,

to get together with the next generation of dancers

and reflect on what was going on.

In December 2022,

Kusakari attended a performance by the National Ukrainian Ballet.

It was their second visit to Japan since the Russian invasion began.

Amid the ongoing conflict,

the troupe has continued to perform twice a week in Kyiv,

where air raid sirens have become a part of daily life.

Nikita Sukhorukov,

who'd performed at Kusakari's charity event,

took to the stage in the lead role.

That was amazing.

Kusakari was there to give the dancers an update

about the roughly 8.6 million yen raised at the charity event.

In July, we held a charity event for the National Ukrainian Ballet.

We raised a lot of money.

So we've purchased sprung floor panels for you to use.

We hope the panels help provide cushioning for your legs

so you can keep practicing and entertaining audiences.

My thoughts and prayers are always with you all.

Stay strong.

We are really, one more time, we appreciate how much,

we are super appreciative to the Japanese government and to the Japanese people.

We are still working in Ukraine because

ballet is part of our culture.

If we don't save our culture,

nothing matters. It's the first one.

We will protect Ukrainian arts.

When the war is over, the arts will come back stronger.

Our ballet company will come back better than ever.

All of us want to create new Ukrainian art.

I feel like in times like these,

we really come to understand why art exists.

Why the arts exist.

We're able to find its deeper meaning.

So what can I do?

What can we do?

How should we think about all this?

Well, there are no easy answers.

The important thing is the will to discover it for yourself.

And personally my determination to do so has really grown.

(Do you have any words to live by?)

"An open and honest heart."

There are times when I feel like even our ability to speak openly and honestly

is somehow being restricted.

I want to become someone who's able to say what they really think.

There could be risks involved, but really,

you never know until you try. So you should go for it.

I want to be someone who has an open and honest heart.