"Doing something you are happy with makes you successful"
Madoka Kariya is an amazing dancer who is working with NDT1, after joining Ballett Zürich Junior ballet and NDT2.
-You have an amazing career as a dancer so far. What is the key of all your successes?
“I think the definition of success is different to everyone. I think it should be different.
When I face a difficult time, I try to think and tell myself those phrases.
‘No regret about the past, no fear for the future, focus and care about now.’
‘I can, I will.’
I used to worry a lot when I was in school in Germany about my career in the future. As I came so far away from home to study and my family supported me for the dream to become a dancer, I had some kind of weight on my shoulder to be ‘successful’. Throughout the years in Europe,I realized that weight was something that I put on myself. Eventually I stopped thinking and worrying too much about the future, instead I started to focus about the present. I start to question myself: what can I do now, what do I want, and what is my best for now?
Fortunately, I met so many beautiful friends, teachers and choreographers in my life. Those people who came into my life brought me where I am now.
For me ‘success’ is no matter what I do anywhere, if it’s something I care about and if I am happy with it, I would call it success!”
-You come from Japan and you studied there until 2009. How did education in Japan influence your dance style now? What do you think about the relationship between culture and dance?
“I learned in Japan the importance of respecting each other and how to work hard for the goal. Those influenced me how I spent time in the studio.
At the same time, I acknowledge some difficult cultures in the Japanese schools (especially the academic schools). In Japan, I had a hard time expressing my opinions that are different from the others. It was just in the ‘air’ in the school that somehow we have to act the same way as the majority. After some years of junior high school, I felt I didn’t even know what I even preferred. So it is a process for me to get rid of those layers of feeling insecure to share my thoughts and being myself.
When I started to share my improvisation video on my social media, to be honest it was for a practice to overcome those insecurity. I kinda felt I was naked and my brain was seen by people. But I wanted to put the force in order to get to know myself more and keep growing as an artist.
One of the many things I love about the Japanese culture is how it embraces the nature and changing of the four different seasons. That sense of something in between is so sensitive yet powerful when I zoom into that in between places. When I meet artists across the globe who are inspired by Japanese culture, it makes me happy and also appreciate where I came from. I appreciate different cultures the same way as I appreciate many dancers who are different and unique.”
-Why did you decide to move to Europe? Was there something that really fascinated you?
“I always wanted to dance professionally in Europe. And my first experience with dance was in ballet, so studying dance in Europe was in that culture of what I was doing and it has been in my mind since a young age. Also I was always fascinated by contemporary dance and for me, being in Europe offers more opportunities to learn it and see the freshest creations from the dance companies.
I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to go to the dance school Palucca Schule in Dresden that offers contemporary dance class and ballet class 50/50 in balance.
In general in Europe, I was fascinated by art everywhere in life more than in japan. For example, people casually talk about art often and appreciate it. Also tickets to go to the theater or museum are cheaper here!”
-You joined NDT2 in 2014 and after 3 years NDT1. How did this experience and working with different choreographers change you and your dance?
“3 years in NDT2 was such a roller coaster. I was so excited to be a part of this creative house. Being surrounded by young super talented dancers was such a treat but also sometimes it could make me feel overwhelmed.
A lot of things happened and lessons I learned from those 3 years in NDT2 and still I am learning in NDT1. But to make a long story short, I realized slowly that everyone in the studio is human before being a dancer, choreographer or director. I am so grateful for getting to meet those beautiful human beings through this company. It inspires me to be myself first before trying to be a good dancer.”
-What makes NDT a special place to work in?
“What we do is teamwork. Being creative and collaborative with dancers and guest choreographers is an exciting part of my work. And NDT is constantly changing. It allows me and almost forces me to be challenged and grow all the time.”
-What is important in order to be a good dancer?
“For me an ideal dancer would be: Being who you are. Having curiosity. Finding solutions in difficulty. Having a good communication skill. Good at self love and care!”
-How were you able to develop your artistry as a dancer?
“I am always curious about many things. Maybe sometime too many things. But I am especially curious about other art forms, so I have some friends who are artists but not dancers. They open my mind and give me some energy boost to develop more in what I do.”
-Why is dance important in society? What is our role?
“‘Dance is universal’ is what we hear often. Dance is one of the tools to communicate. Nowadays there are many opinions shared often by words through the internet and we can be influenced by it or disagree with it. I hope dance can be the bridge between some gaps in between the verbal expression.
Dancing can make people happy. Seeing someone enjoying dancing makes people happy. I hope this positive circle will continue and go farther.”
-How can you define technique? How important is it?
“Technique is something that is available in your pocket in order to express something through your body. I think it can be any style, not only ballet. Being able to apply that technique to different things is what is important in the end.”
-How important is the personal process of improvisation and research with the body?
“There are many styles or methods for guided improvisation and I love using those but in the end, no one can tell me how to improvise for me. Therefore I think it’s important to spend some time for yourself only for you to understand your body and mind. I am still on the research about this but it's just super fascinating to get to know my instrument and mind patterns to play around.”
-Why do you love to dance? What makes dance so beautiful to become a necessity?
“I love dance because there are a lot of connections. Connecting the everyday differences in myself, connecting to a partner, or connecting to other dancers in the space. Humans cannot live alone. I love when we can connect physically and touch someone’s feelings by dance. It’s like magic.”
-In dance we are always searching for perfection, in constant relation with the mirror. How did you deal with this constant tension? Is it possible to overcome it at a certain point?
“The mirror can be useful if we use it intentionally for leaning steps or trouble shooting for something in the rehearsal. Other than that I prefer to close the curtain over the mirror because often the mirror is not our audience.
When I danced Sharon Eyal’s work, I loved how it feels to dive into the journey of dance fully without the mirror. Using the mirror is not such a bad thing, but when we open up our senses we easily forget that mirror is there.”
-You are a model and point of reference of a lot of dancers. How does this make you feel?
“I never thought I am a point of reference to the other dancers…
If so it feels a little weird, but I’m honored.
Dance has been my core passion for the longest but I have many curiosities and interests and want to try many things. I have been running after what I am passionate about and I would like to keep doing so!”
-Can you give some advice to young dancers?
“Don’t compare with the others. If there is something to compare, compare you with yourself from yesterday and today! Embrace the difficult moment as well, because there is no dark time that you never find the light”
Thank you so much Madoka, it was such an honor to have the chance to interview you!
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