We recently connected with Masumi Kambayashi and have shared our conversation below.
Masumi, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
My work ethic comes from my childhood. I started dancing when I was 5 and I never stopped dancing since then. When I was a junior high school and high school student in Japan, it became very hard to commit both study and dancing because I was in school 8am-6pm everyday except Sunday and my school had a plenty of homework and exam. but I didn’t want to quit dancing because dance was the only thing I was able to be consistent and I feel fully be myself. My schedule everyday back then was fully packed and I used to only sleep 2-3 hours everyday. But I never regret that I chose to do it because now I am grown I am confident that there is nothing I cannot do as long as I trust myself. And I know I am hardworking. And that mindset helps me a lot now whenever I get overwhelmed.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My name is Masumi Kambayashi, dancer and choreographer from Japan now based in NYC. I started dancing since I was a kid and when I was at the competition in LA, I traveled to NYC for few weeks. That experience put huge impression to me and after I graduate high school, I decided to come to NYC to get more inspiration and experience. After I graduate dance School, I started building my career as a dancer but also as a dance instructor and Choreographer. Now I teach at many well-known studios in NYC. I also traveled to several states to teach as well. My concept as a teacher and choreographer is that make everyone supported and encouraged, leaving the room feeling happy and inspired by dancing. When I see people smiling during the class always makes me so happy and inspired. As a dancer and choreographer I have many shows coming up in NYC as well.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back, I am very glad and grateful that I was able to learn how to be genuine to other people. Dance cannot be completed without having a connection with other people. Because I had a lot of mentors and friends that they showed me how to care for other people and show love, I can pass those feeling to my students. And second thing is that not being scared of trying new things. It can be dance genre, songs you listening to. When I was in dance school I tried my best to do all the genre and it definitely helped me a lot as a dancer. And the last thing is to be a human first. Being a dancer is not easy both physically and mentally. there are many opportunity and classes happening everyday but having conversation with myself and think you what really need without comparing with someone is very important.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
My whole journey wouldn’t be the same without my parents. The reason I started dancing was thanks to my parents. When I was watching a TV show that had dancers, I pointed out them and said “I wanna do this!” We used to live in the countryside so there was no dance school nearby that I can go to. But my parents looked the dance studios for days. And when I decided to come to NYC, they were very supportive and never said negative things for it. I leaned many things from them and I cannot appreciate enough for my parents.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/masumicam
Image Credits
India Stokes Geo Mantilla
