Tomomi Imai is a talented Above and Beyond Dance company member and an accomplished modern dancer and choreographer. She appeared with the company in our inaugural season, Seeking (2008), and she joined the company for our performances in the BAX Acrobatic and Dance showcase in 2010. It has been an honor and a joy to have her in the creative process for our current season.
Tomomi writes about her involvement with the company’s current project, RAW:
I met Chriselle at a Pi Dance Theatre rehearsal. Since then, we have danced together. It was her kindness that drew me to her as much as her skill. She is such a nice person, but I had no idea she was also a good fisher. Two years ago, she asked me if I wanted to try aerial work. I attended her class four or five times. I was challenged by the work. But, I have since been caught up in other work. One day she emailed me that she was going to create a new aerial piece. She was looking for someone. Why me? I did not have a lot of aerial training. But I went to the rehearsal anyway. I was not sure I was up to it. I always say to myself in such situations, I will go and be very quiet, just follow instructions, and get through it. I didn’t just get through it, I got hooked. With Chriselle’s patient urging, always leaving me the option to withdraw, I had swallowed the bait. “You don’t need to do it if you are not comfortable,” she would say but drawing me deeper into her dance. Chriselle had cast her line pretty far but hooked another dancer in her dance. She will hook her audience too.
