Shortly after going independent I was invited to join the Japanese folk dance troop Komachi Montreal in some of their summer season performances. This included the Mont-Royal Multicultural Festival and a performance at the Fête des Nations à Mascouche held at the church, l'Église St-Henri à Mascouche. Collaborating with a dance troop like Komachi was a great deal of fun as it involves the inclusion of live music where performers have been accustomed to dancing to recorded tracks. Adding live festival and Minyo music to the Komachi dance routines was a great experience and both dancers and musicians received a giant boost in energy to perform. By combining instrumental pieces into their dance performances I had the opportunity to learn and perform some of Komachi’s dance repertoire. I remain deeply grateful to the members of Komachi Montreal and to leader and founder Kayo Yasuhara for sharing their stage with me.
