We recently connected with Mamiko Nakatsugawa and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mamiko thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

“Successful” means different for each and every individuals, but I think my own meaning of successful is to be able to find the balance of work and rest – and make the work that is valuable, intentional, and fun for myself.

I think as an artist and also an adult, I find difficult to take my own time to rest. I make sure to create a day to rest, at least once a week. Even I think I can fit all the work in the schedule, sometimes it isn’t sustainable. I started liking having the day to focus on my health and rest – so that I can do my work in a better condition.

Whenever I work, I want the work to be intentional for me. What does it mean to be here, and why do I work with them? It could be about my own creation, it could be about project that I’m in… anything I do, I really want my presence to mean something, impacting and inspiring others and myself. Something that connect to my joy and happiness, I try to do more – and if that happens to help other to connect joy and happiness, my work is already beyond successful. And also, if that happens to pay my bill, I think that is pretty great, and that is my ultimate goal and success as an artist.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a dancer, choreographer, model, and yoga instructor based in NYC – originally from Sendai, Japan.

I am currently working as a freelance artist – as a dancer, previously, I worked with contemporary/Jazz/modern dance companies that is based in NYC and allowed me to perform nationally and internationally. Besides working with dance companies, I have done music videos, concept videos, short films, and films as a dancer.

As a choreographer, I started making my own work in 2020, and my recent work “While in Motion” was premiered in NYC in the summer of 2022. I am planning to create more in 2023, and hoping to expand the career path into movement directions, creative directions, and so on.

As a model, I have worked with different clients – as a published and signed model, I am thriving to work as a model who dance. I have made my NYFW debut in SS2023, and continue to be appearing in the fashion and design industry. I hope to expand my brand as a model to work with big brands, and create something beautiful.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think always to be myself – in the audition room, in rehearsal, on set, on stage… Being myself is really scary sometimes because it feels like such a vulnerable thing to do in a professional setting. When I started working professionally, I thought I need to wear mask to be looks tough and put together – but I quickly found that is just really not me. I don’t act like that, and that is not my personality at all.

I think when people meet me as who I am, they can feel and see my true personality – and it’s been helpful for me to have fun on set or on stage – and I think that has been helpful building my career.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I was in college, I really wanted quit dancing after going to very intense months of training with very talented dancers in NYC. Quit being in dance department and really thinking about choosing other major.

When I told to the head of the dance department at that time, she told me “try one more week and if you still feel like it, you can come and talk to me again”.

That week, I took classes and sometimes still felt like I want to quit, but that taught me – to continue is the most important thing, and having bad days or experiences doesn’t mean that it continues on as my whole experience to continue on training and being a dancer.

Whenever I get the negative thoughts, I tell myself “let’s try one more week, and see how I feel”.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mamikonakatsugawa.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/mamiko.nakatsugawa?igshid=MjkzY2Y1YTY=

Image Credits
Top photo – Justin W King In black top and jumping shot – Mark Laubenheimer In purple dress – Marc Santos Posed sitting – Gabriel Ponton Jumping shot in green dress – John Camino