Ballroom dancing set to be the next flash in the pan

[Captain Japan]

Slow news day...
Ballroom dancing fever set to grip Japan again

TOKYO: Ballroom dancing caught on in Japan after the screening of the box-office hit "Shall We Dance?" in 1996.

Now that Hollywood has a remake of the Japanese movie starring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez, the fever looks set to stay.

Ballgowns are available at stores in Tokyo.

They come in just about any colour and style, with many embroidered elaborately with crystals and beads.

The gowns are mainly for rental with each piece going for about US$480.

But that is still far less costly than if you were to purchase one, which retails between US$3,000 and US$7,000....the rest...

This is some pretty hopeless stuff...

Asumi showed me some of her favourite outfits.

"They're simple and gorgeous. They don't come with too many fussy adornments and shape my silhouette very well. That's more important then wearing something just to be in fashion," said professional ballroon dancer Asumi Mukataka.

The male dancers have to look good too, although their styles are decidedly more limited.

Koji Nishijima, also a professional ballroom dancer said: "Unlike women's gowns, there's not much room for me to express my creative style. But I'm very concerned about how the pants give shape to my legs. "

It pays to be fussy as what they wear and how they look while dancing affects the judges' scores.

[FG Lurker]

50,000yen or so to rent!? I thought that was the purchase price!!

Hehe, and my wife thinks my passtimes are expensive...

[Jshop]

Ball Room dancing is the big rage over here in Australia at the moment.

Luckily I have been able to convince my girlfriend that I have some leg injury that allows me to do my sports, but unable to do Ball Room Dancing!

Cant wait until this fad is chucked back on to the rubbish heap (like it was 1 year after Strictly Ballroom finished!)

[Skankster]

-
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J-girls that do this are usually not cute. I know cause I frequent a few ballroom events... the J-girls there are NOT the target.

[vir-jin]

Ballet Dance- the most exhausting sports ever. and it's making you strong physically and mentally, trains your musicality and brain(remember the step combination and thousands of figures).
I have been training from 5- 16 at the Royal Academy of Dancing, London- graded examination syllabus.
http://www.rad.org.uk/01who/index.htm
HM the Queen signed all my 7 useless but priceless ( blood, sweat and tears ) certificates in person

even semi- professionals bodies must suffer a lot and around 35 a pro will have to stop his career and recycle the remains of a damaged body.

Like it or not, it's difficult and one of the killer disciplines- too many skills that are requested to make it a success.

[tatsujin]

Ballet Dance- the most exhausting sports ever. and it's making you strong physically and mentally, trains your musicality and brain(remember the step combination and thousands of figures).
I have been training from 5- 16 at the Royal Academy of Dancing, London- graded examination syllabus.
http://www.rad.org.uk/01who/index.htm
HM the Queen signed all my 7 useless but priceless ( blood, sweat and tears ) certificates in person

even semi- professionals bodies must suffer a lot and around 35 a pro will have to stop his career and recycle the remains of a damaged body.

Like it or not, it's difficult and one of the killer disciplines- too many skills that are requested to make it a success.

Hey Vir-jin, whats the final effect it has on your body when one's career is over?

[vir-jin]

Hey Vir-jin, whats the final effect it has on your body when one's career is over?

most common: you simply can't walk without pain.
achilles tendon: double length
you need two artificial hip joints
knee bursa non existant.

I had achilles tendon inflammation twice a month- training three hours a day, every day of the week. You can help yourself by taping along the achilles tendon- relief on the strain. knees hurting at every step. ingrowing toenails

[gomichild]

I started ballet at 3 - glad I got out when I was 9...

But at least I'm no longer pidgeon-toed!

[vir-jin]

I started ballet at 3 - glad I got out when I was 9...

But at least I'm no longer pidgeon-toed!

oh, how could I forget about that visual damage

[American Oyaji]

V-J, GC
how old are you now?

[gomichild]

What a question to ask such ladies as ourselves!

[tatsujin]

Hey Vir-jin, whats the final effect it has on your body when one's career is over?

most common: you simply can't walk without pain.
achilles tendon: double length
you need two artificial hip joints
knee bursa non existant.

I had achilles tendon inflammation twice a month- training three hours a day, every day of the week. You can help yourself by taping along the achilles tendon- relief on the strain. knees hurting at every step. ingrowing toenails

Thats some sacrifice to make alright.

I used to be fairly handy at football when young and got the shit trained out of me, but I never got those type of injuries!

Maybe its worth it though if you get to persue your life's dream

[American Oyaji]

What a question to ask such ladies as ourselves!

*sigh*

I'm sorry , but that's something I just don't get. Why does a woman's age have to be a secret.

Nevermind then.

[Ketou]

What a question to ask such ladies as ourselves!

*sigh*

I'm sorry , but that's something I just don't get. Why does a woman's age have to be a secret.

Nevermind then.

Yea , it's odd.
I think they never get over the 16 year old hump. Which is silly really as women are more like a good red. They get better with age!

[American Oyaji]

Agreed. I think women are more beautiful the older they get.

[GomiGirl]

What a question to ask such ladies as ourselves!

*sigh*

I'm sorry , but that's something I just don't get. Why does a woman's age have to be a secret.

Nevermind then.

Well a single girl or married but childless one are judged very often by their age.. not saying that you guys do it but it happens often. We learn that youth and beauty are valued and are quite often so closely linked that we don't tell our age so that we can't be judged or put into a category because of it..

There are only three age groups for women in Hollywood.
Hot Babe
District attorney
Driving Miss Daisy

This happens in the real world too. People who know your age expect you to behave in a certain way.

So at 34 and single and *gasp* childless I had best be careful to snag myself a husband and start breeding before I lose ability. It happens alot..

I often get comments "Why are you not married?" like it is an accusation or there is something wrong with me.. well there are lots of things wrong with me but that is for another post.

[Big Booger]

one word:
"makeinu" LOL

[American Oyaji]

Big Booger!!!

You deserve a beat down for that one!!

GG, there is NOTHING wrong with not being married and not having kids if that is your choice.

I say you just haven't found the right bloke yet.

[Captain Japan]

Salsa dancing is smoking in Japan
Edmonton Sun

TOKYO -- A pulsating mambo fills the air at a cavernous club near Tokyo Bay. "Ayyy-esssooo!" the song calls in exhortation as a sea of dancers - sweaty, clothes clinging - roll their hips and swirl into turns with increasing abandon. The scene is a world away from the formal and orderly Japan that lies outside - and that's exactly why these dancers love it.

Salsa, the catch-all name for a variety of music and dance with Latin and Afro-Caribbean roots such as the mambo, rumba and Cuban son, has found an unlikely group of hard-core enthusiasts in Japan.

"It's like they've suddenly woken up. They're shocked by the gap between their daily lives and life on the dance floor," says George Watabe, 56, an events producer credited as the force behind Japan's salsa boom.

"It's a kind of revolution, a mass rebellion," he adds with a beaming smile.

The signs of the boom in Japan are unmistakable.

The monthly 120% Salsa has grown from a one-page flyer in 1996 to a full magazine with a circulation of about 40,000.

Anyone know a cavernous salsa club near Tokyo Bay?

[Captain Japan]

Yet another dance craze...

Modern Japan's top samurai shaking it to a samba beat
AFP

TOKYO (AFP) - Forget about the courageous chivalry or serene mental concentration of the feudal-era samurai. Japan's coolest samurai today is clad in a dazzling golden kimono and shaking his hips to the rhythm of the samba.

Until 2003, Ken Matsudaira, fondly called by the nickname "Matsuken", was known in Japan as a solemn actor playing a heroic shogun in a television drama series that lasted for a quarter of a century.

But in a sign of a changing Japan, the feudal fighter is now swaying to a giddy beat from halfway across the globe.

He has caused a sensation among young and old alike with CDs of his latest song, the "Matsuken Samba II", complete with DVDs of his choreographer giving dancing tips, selling 500,000 copies. Other Matsuken goods on sale range from golden kimonos to top-knot wigs to postal stamps.

The audience goes wild with excitement as the one-time stoic hero, with snow-white make-up and glittering strands of hair dangling from the temples, appears on stage with a horde of gaudy female dancers.

"Hit the bongo, sound the samba!" Matsuken breaks into song, skipping about as the modern-day samurai invites young men and women to dance all night with him....the rest...