Dancing between Poland and Japan

"If you work, you have to do it in a pleasant and satisfactory way" – claims Hana Umeda. She’s a dancer and teacher of traditional Japanese buyố. Half Polish, half Japanese, she continues, in a sense, the work of her grandfather, who during the interwar familiarized Poles with the culture of Japan 

Incredible stories

I asked Hana Umeda how her Japanese dad met her Polish mom. “This is an interesting story, actually” – she answers. “My grandfather, Ryochu Umeda, was a Buddhist monk. He decided to leave Japan for a while and study in Berlin. But on the ferry to Europe he met a Pole. This man convinced him that Warsaw was a much more interesting place than the capital of Germany. This way my grandfather came to Poland, where he became pretty popular as the exotic zen teacher. He made a lot of friends in Warsaw's society as well. After many years, in 1939, he came back do Japan, forced by repressions connected with the upcoming war. Just before death he ordered his son to come to Poland, to be adopted by a Polish family and to spend his life on continuing his father’s work. So, following his father's will, the 13-year old boy went to Europe and buried half of Ryochu’s ashes at the Powązki Cemetery. And he met my mom at Japanese Studies Institute at the Warsaw University, where he would spend time chatting with girls.”

Ryochu Umeda's photos: http://www.audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/98889/3fc56d882f1388f013726bfe25114683/

A lot of people in Warsaw know Hana from sight, mostly because of her performances of buyố – a traditional dance, connected with kabuki theatre and geishas. “I discovered this art during my 2,5-year visit to Japan. I fell in love with kabuki, so my family, who is connected with theater, send me to my master,” the 25-year old dancer recalls.

Hana’s  teacher's story is just as interesting as the story of her grandfather. “My incredible master’s name is Nishikawa Fukushino. She opposed to the  elitism of buyố dance, which is awfully expensive and available only to girls from rich families (this situation caused by the fact that culture in Japan is not financed – dancers have to pay for their own shows) . And my master comes from an island called Okinawa, situated in the south, far away from the rest of the country. There she realized that her destiny is to be a buyố dancer. Her parents didn’t allow it, so she ran away from home and went to Tokyo, where she found a master. She worked two jobs. She gave almost all her money to her teacher. She was only eating instant soups, half of a portion a day. But with very hard work and huge renunciations she managed to pass every exam and obtain a teacher's degree. She was incredibly talented. Because of her tough experiences, she decided to teach for a salary much smaller than usual. Her students don’t have be rich.”

Hana became close to her master, who symbolically adopted the student. The teacher visited Poland twice and she mentions in her letters that she feels very connected with this country.

Calm, grace and distance

         Hana Umeda is keen on buyố dance for several reasons. “The thing about this art is that I don’t show my own femininity, but I produce a kind of stage femininity, which is completely separate from me. In kabuki theater, for example, men often perform female roles in a very convincing way. So real physical features don’t matter here. I’m also delighted with the graciousness and elegance of buyố, with its calmness. Every motion is very thoughtful and meaningful, everything goes on slowly. And you don’t express yourself, but you tell an independent story in a poetic way. In buyố you dance a text, every motion completes the meaning of song lyrics.” 

         Hana’s dance sometimes escapes tradition and adopts a more personal style. „I work with Radek Duda’s band called Frozen Bird, I do the choreography. It has many characteristics of film music, it stimulates the imagination. When I create my own dance choreography, there is a risk that I will tell a story in a way that is too personal and too emotional. So I try to get bored with it by repeating it over and over, and only the moves stay on the stage. This is a very good therapeutic exercise – first you put your own experiences in the dance, and then you develop a distance to it.”

         Hana acquires new skills during regular visits to Japan, and then works on them in Poland. Teaching is also a great exercise. “I lead a group of girls who are interested in the culture of Japan or who want to learn an unusual dance. We meet every Sunday in a workshop called Duży Pokój.”

The dancer doesn’t intent to move to Japan – she was born and she grew up in Poland. The strict culture of conventions of the Far East would be to tiring. “There I have to constantly think how to act, and here everything is clear to me” – she explains. “Furthermore, in Warsaw I have more possibilities, I can realize my plans and ideas. Here nothing is impossible for me. I know the right people, who will help me or who will join my project. Thanks to this I can do what I love and earn money from it. Even if I’m not floating in money, my work is my passion. I can’t imagine living a different life.”