Words Erin Tsuchiya
Cross tap-dancing with hip-hop and African drumming and what do you get? Japan’s Higuchi Hideyuki, aka Hideboh, will tell you it’s “Funk-a-Step” – his fusion of the Broadway and rhythm styles of tap-dance. Hideboh trained in New York under broadway dance master Henry LeTang – who’s famous for nurturing big names such as Gregory Hines, Bette Midler and Harry Belefonte – before returning to Japan to work as tap instructor and choreographer. He appeared as a dancing farmer in Takeshi Kitano’s acclaimed 2003 film Zatoichi and now he’ll be bringing his power tap-dance troupe Stripes to Hong Kong for an explosive show from August 24 – 27. We got Hideboh on the phone before he made the trip over to find out what makes him click his heels.
On why he created Funk-a-Step…
I guess because, unless you aim to become an ensemble dancer, I believe it’s important to create your own original
style to add to the world, sort of like how Charlie Chaplin created his own style in film. Tap-dancing has been around for a long time and my wish was to leave something in its history that was my own.
On learning how to be Japanese from Americans…
In the beginning, we looked up to the tap-dancing of black people and aspired to become like them, so we dressed up like hip-hop dancers – but that in America is disapproved of by black people. I learnt to accept Japanese traditions and to use those as a starting point to be original and use them as a form of identity. By going to America, I think I learnt more about what it was to be Japanese, especially as the Japanese have a tendency to be easily influenced by foreigners.
On living and dancing in the United States…
America is freer in many ways and therefore was easier to live in. But at the same time the people are looser than the Japanese, who are more serious, and there were both pros and cons to that. For example, there were times when I would spend eight hours at a performance venue where something new may have come together, but sometimes I would feel as though I ended up doing nothing that day.
On teaching actor-director Takeshi Kitano…
I’ve been teaching him for around six years now. My father used to be a ‘geinin’ or entertainer, who tap-danced, did talks and played the harmonica on stage in Asakusa, where Kitano also performed as part of a group called Two Beats. I was still an infant then and I used to watch my father and Kitano perform from the wings. Around 20 years later I appeared on a TV show with The Stripes, where Mr. Kitano was the host. In Japan, geinins are rooted in tap-dancing and he wanted to start dancing properly again, so asked to be a sort of apprentice – which is what led to the movie Zatoichi.
On working with Kitano…
Kitano allowed us to be free with the choreography of the
dance parts, but I guess what I particularly noted from the experience was that his shooting style was very fast. In fact, most of his cuts are done in one take and that is what I think is amazing about the way he shoots films. He sometimes did
not tell us that he was doing takes in case we became nervous, and so there were times when the job was done without us even knowing.
On why he has to dance…
I think that tap-dancing is something that was given to me and I don’t think that I would have done anything other than this. I feel that this is what was meant for me.
Stripes’ Funk-a-Step will play at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Studio Theatre from August 24 to August 26 (tickets $180 and $120), and at the Tuen Mun Town Hall Cultural Activities Hall on August 27 ($140 and $90). Shows start at 8pm. Hideboh will conduct tap-dance workshops at the HKCC Studio Theatre on the 25th (advanced) and 26th (intermediate) from 1:30pm – 3pm; $60 per workshop. Tickets from Urbtix
on 2734 9009.
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