Meet Yuka Kameda

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Yuka Kameda a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Yuka, we sincerely appreciate you joining us today and agreeing to talk about some very personal topics. How did you find my purpose?

As a tap dancer, I not only dance but also make music. My feet are my instruments, and I use my body to express myself. Dancing and improvising with Jazz musicians is the tradition of tap. It is a visual representation of the rhythm section, like drums or percussion. Tap is an African art form, and improvisation was one of the ways to communicate with each other when it originated. I love tap dancing, and it is one of my jobs to continue dancing and improvising to pass this beautiful art form to the people who have never seen a live tap performance, as well as to the next generation that will appreciate this genre. I listen to the music and respond to it as a way to communicate with other musicians. Every performance is a unique experience to me as well as the listeners because it will never be played or danced in the same way. I strive to keep connecting with musicians, dancers, and the audience by creating music in my own personal way that can be appreciated visually and artistically.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am a tap dancer and tap dance instructor from Japan based in New York. I started tap dancing when I was 10 and moved to New York in 2005 to pursue my career. When I moved here, I only had $2,000 with me and no family or friends in the country. I also could barely speak English back then. It was very challenging and I would often eat ramen or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cry at night.
After living here for about 3 years, luckily, I got my first teaching job in Harlem. I had no teaching experience (not even in Japan), so my first teaching job was to teach about 40 children, in English, without an assistant in an auditorium. I loved the kids but had no idea how to teach dance. My English was still poor at that time, and it was so frustrating that sometimes I couldn’t even explain what I wanted to teach. I also felt bad that I often didn’t understand what the kids were trying to say. But I believed that even though we spoke different languages, we could communicate with each other through dance.
I gained confidence after this experience and started teaching at many other places. I am thankful that I am now a tap dance faculty member at world-renowned Steps on Broadway, Mark Morris Dance Center, and Broadway Dance Center.

I also love performing and started my band “Secret Drive” with veteran pianist, Chris Swan this April. Our debut show at the iconic Arthur’s Tavern was packed, and we have been playing there regularly ever since. Tap is not only dance but music, and I love making music with my feet in a live setting with people I love.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Throughout a journey like this, there were many qualities that one needed to continue to strive towards goals. In my case, humility, patience, and respect were the three most important. The patience required to continue to work on my skills without an end in sight was daunting in the beginning. Another quality was humility. Even as I started to perform better, I still had to recognize that there was much more to learn. Staying humble allowed me to continue the pursuit of becoming a professional tap dancer. No journey would be complete without both respecting myself and others. To this day, respect is still key in my quest. Keep studying and take classes as much as you can. There were times when I kind of stopped taking classes, because 1) I thought classes were too expensive (and I didn’t have money to take classes), and 2) I thought I was good enough and I didn’t have to take classes regularly anymore (which was so wrong!). Also, study music as much as you can. You can never stop studying!

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

I recently graduated from college and majored in Music Performance and Dance. My instrument was tap, and I was in both large and small jazz ensembles. My professor and the director of Jazz Studies told me that he had never had a tap dancer in his ensembles in the 20 years of his professor career. He gave me a lot of feedback, but in the end, it was all up to me to decide what I do or how I play in the ensembles. This experience made me think about what my role is as a tap dancer, and how to be a musician and collaborate with other musicians.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yukakameda.com/
• Instagram: My account @yukakameda, My band’s account @secretdrivenyc
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuka-kameda-a290772b
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@yukakameda

Image Credits

Dervon Dixon

Agata Photography