An Interview with a Caribbean - Bollywood Dancer: Sean Kulsum

Sean is a Caribbean and Bollywood dancer based in Tokyo, but is originally from New York city. He has been in Japan for around nine months and works as an English teacher and dancer. LiD! had a chat with Sean about his life as an dancer here in Japan.

Why did you want to come to Japan specifically to dance?

Hm... well I came to Japan because I wanted a change in life. I was born and raised in New York so I felt like I've always wanted to travel and wanted to experience life in a different way. So I picked Japan 'cause I was familiar with the culture; Tokyo is like New York. And also Japanese dancers are really great 'cause I heard Japanese dancers are the ones who create K-pop dances and stuff. I wanted to work on my dancing skills and then I found out there’s a huge Caribbean community here and I was like "Oh, that’s perfect" cause that’s where I started off (I started as a Caribbean dancer). Then when I moved here found out there was a huge Bollywood - Indian community and I was like "That's even better!". I don’t know just it all kinda connected.

OK... so far, how are you finding dancing in Japan? Has it reached your expectations, has anything surprised you, anything that you fell in love with and is there anything that you don't like?

Well the one thing that has really surprised me is pay I guess. I realize that dancers, performing wise, aren’t treated as doing a kind of job. You get paid really low or sometimes not even paid at all and I’m like: "But this is what I do so like I need to get paid". Things like that. And then when I ask for like a certain amount, it's too high or goes beyond the budget so I’m still trying to figure out what/how can I make that work, how can I do dances and get paid when performing. However, dance classes wise, I feel like dancers get a lot from their dance classes. I think that’s where you get your money, mostly because I feel like the people in Japan want to learn. I feel like that’s where the dancers will get (money) but then not everyone wants to have classes and go to classes so I'm figuring it out.

How long have you been in Japan?

About eight months? Nine months?

And your fulltime job isn't dance, it's...

My full time job is teaching English but I fell like I have two full time jobs (lol). So yes, my full time job is teaching English and I do dance as a part time but I fell like the way this year is going I have a lot of plans and opportunities (in dance) so I think it's gonna become a full time job as well.

Over the past eight/nine months how have you been juggling dance and work? Has it been easy? Has it been hard?

Oh well because of my job I've had the blessing of asking for any day I want off. I think that helped benefit me a lot. I mean, it does come with a price but still I don’t mind paying that price. I guess my job, since it’s so flexible I'm able to request a day off and go and perform for a day or something like that. I think that’s what let's me be. Also the community and people are so friendly here. It's always funny how small the dance world and community is so when you know one person the other person knows the other and then it is all combined, which is nice.

You've been saying that you've been able to connect with other dancers, what has that been like?

Being able to connect with other dancers has definitely helped me because the dancers here are so supportive of each other. They will help you by going beyond. They will try their best to help you try to get students (for your classes) as much as they can. Versus like New York, where everything is a competition and you have to do your own social media post, you have to make sure you get your own students, no one is going to really help you as much. But I feel the people here are more like yes, I'm a dancer, you're a dancer too. Let's help each other let's help grow together, which is nice.

For the future what to you hope to achieve whilst dancing in Japan?

Maybe throw a dance show or start doing events. I feel like that's where I'm leading to.

My other dancers friends are like, "Hey it's like you should start building a team together so you could throw a show and stuff like that ". Maybe that's my goal. I feel like my journey in Japan is to learn how to be a promoter and how to throw events.

How do the lessons in Tokyo differ from the ones in New York?

It's definitely a change in energy. In New York there's a lot of cheering, you're trying to cheer each other on and to create that energy and to get everyone boosted and excited. Which can be a good thing and also a bad thing because that could get people nervous. Especially (if people are thinking), " I don't want to make a mistake" or "I have an image to

protect" and things like that.

I also feel like in the New York scene it's very like, "Oh it's all about Instagram, okay so I have to video and I got a videographer and I have to do good so I can post it on Instagram". It's more about the performance aspect of it I guess and is starting to become more than learning which I feel ties in with Japan. Yes, they (Japan) do the videography as well but I think for Japanese people, they focus more on the technique and more on like how to do the technicality of the choreography.

But as a foreigner it's very not welcoming in a sense. Because I could do the choreography well or do it okay but the teacher wouldn't pay attention to you. Or they would not acknowledge you in the class or they would not even talk to me in Japanese even though like yes, you (the one taking the class), the person doesn't speak Japanese but still acknowledge them or look at them and tell them try to do this instead. They (the teachers) don't try to help out which in some cases I feel like I'm not seen in a way. It kinds of discourages me to take more Japanese dance classes.

However, I'm going there for myself and trying to train for myself so even though I feel like I'm not being seen and not being welcomed, I will still go because I want to become a better dancer for myself and not for anyone else.

Is there any classes that you've gone to or is there any teachers that you seen that you thought were amazing?

Yeah, I have one teacher and she's like "You're so good!" and I'm like "Oh my god, no I'm not, I'm messing up so much in your class." She tells me that I'm doing amazing but I don't know because I'm the only boy (lol) and she is a nice teacher. But I'm not picking up the choreography good enough and she will still say things like you're so good, keep it up, you have such a good posture. I'm just like am I really doing good or is she just being nice to me and being the Japanese friendly thing. But like I said before, I go for myself and to learn. Not to be praised by anyone else.

Have you been to any shows and events?

Ah yes. I've performed for many events and shows since I've been here. There's definitely two different aspects of it. So one I'm going to talk about is from the Caribbean side. The Caribbean side feels like I'm at home. People are screaming and clapping and stuff,

not throughout the whole performance but it's still something. Still a little quiet but I still feel the energy and like the liveliness of it.

I think one person told me they they saw me perform and they were like he's not a Japanese dancer, he's definitely from the Caribbean islands because the only way you could get like that is from being from the country. That really hit me 'cause I guess I'm

an ambassador in a way of showing like hey, this is Caribbean dance, this is like

how you are moving and how to learn.

I had a performance for the Caribbean Embassy. I did a performance for them and teaching them (a dance). They were doing the theme of Jamaica so I taught them Jamaican dances

and what Jamaica was.

That also kind of struck me in a little bit of a way too because I feel like Japan's way of

seeing Jamaica is Bob Marley. There's so much more. I was dancing to like some really good dancehall music, some soca, some reggae and then they weren't that interested in it but as soon as like the Bob Marley came out, the old hits came out, then they started getting all into it. I was like yes, this is a good part of Caribbean dance or Jamaican style of music but there is so much more to that. But it was great 'cause I was able to give that information and educate people, which was nice.

What's it been like connecting with other foreign dancers?

Hmm... Um, I haven't really connected with too many foreign dancers, as in a professional

dance way. Yes, I would see them, they would see me perform or I will see them perform and talk and like have a great time partying-wise, but I haven't collaborated with any of the dancing foreign dancers yet. Which I would like to do one day.

Final thoughts

I feel like for my journey in Japan (what I need to remember): everyone is always saying Japan is this Japan is that but I don't want it to be based on Japan as a whole. Yes, there are Japanese people who don't like foreigners but I know Japanese people who love foreigners. I have to be careful of not thinking in that (negative) way. If I make it like Japanese people won't sit next to you on the train or they won't speak to you, I would start hating Japan. I don't want to start thinking like that because it's not going to be a good thing. I think it is based on the individual.

My advice for foreigners who want to come and take dance classes is that

is that yes, the language barrier is going to be there but it's not much that is needed. Dances is a universal language so you could literally just follow them, follow the moves how they do it and you don't even need to speak in class. It's just you have to get over the fact that you're not going to be presented or being seen but if you want to just have fun by yourself and explore that then yes, you should definitely take dance classes.

Thank you Sean for sitting down with us and telling us your experiences! For more about Sean and his dance lessons and performances, please follow his Instagram @Seanthedancer__.