"WASABE" Ryoko & Ryu (Tokyo, Japan)

BZ Welcome to Australia ! I believe this is your first time. Can you
         please tell the Australians a little bit about yourselves?
Ryoko: We've been dancing together for about 5 yrs now and we've
performed at the West Coast Salsa Congress 2002 and ever since then
we got invited here and we are amazed at how Australian Salsa Dancers
are very good. We love Salsa so much because it is very "Free Music"
and in Japan we are very fond of Latin Music. It isn't new for us in Japan,
our parents generation used to listen to Latin Music a lot.

In Japan we teach mostly On 1, and LA style mostly and we teach every day.
We have beginners class, intensive class and super intensive classes for those
who want to perform. I also have a Ladies Styling Class as well.

Ryu: And I work in a Newspaper Company in the day and teach Salsa at night. But we both
found "A Dream" in Salsa and we got married and before Salsa we really didn't know much
about "Life in general" so it opened up our eyes, made us see things differently and
I want now my Students to know and appreciate that. If they try hard enough they
can live their dreams just like we are living ours.

BZ: You must be excited because it's your first time at the Congress in Sydney?
Ryoko: About the Congress first of all I have to say "Its So Organised"! We always
believed that Japan was the No 1 when it comes to organisation, but now I really
am not so sure…( ha-ha ) I have to go back now and change our system !!
We are truly amazed at how well it's all organised and the people just make it
even more delightful.

There is a very strong connection between The Team and you can feel it. And the
Australian people are so warm…. and even the Non Salsa people for ex. In the Hotel,
always so helpful and nice to talk to.

BZ:What is the most important thing for you when you teach Salsa?
Ryoko: As long as they continue with learning they will always improve on
their skills, as long as they don't quit half way. They need to practise the
same routines over and over so if you know one routine you can continue
that routine and just practise and yes "Practice does make Perfect".
Sometimes the guys are a bit impatient and they want adventure…
but in the long run you can learn everything. And after a while they realize
that they have to do the basics first. Guys do most of the work so we need
to encourage them all the time. But the most important thing they have to learn
is "communication".

BZ: What differences do you find between the Japanese dancers and the rest of the World?
Ryoko: The Japanese girls tend to just follow and concentrate but the American and Australian girls
follow the music with their own styles and they seem to be more "open" in their dancing. But we
learned so many things here in Australia and we are having so much fun, and I hope you
people never change and welcome us back again.