We recently connected with Hoyori Maruo and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Hoyori, thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I grew up in Australia my whole life and I always considered myself as someone who was better at school than at dance. Moving to New York last year in September to give dancing a real shot was a risk that I never thought I would take. I’m in the middle of getting my Bachelor of Psychology and when I was around 16years old, I had accepted that dancing was a hobby that I put a lot of time, effort and my parents’ money in but wasn’t going to be something that I pursued professionally. But, during my visit to New York in the summer of 2023 for a week-long intensive, I spontaneously decided that I was going to try to obtain a student VISA so I could join the program at Broadway Dance Centre after talking to a couple of friends and teachers that I had met here. My parents are unbelievably supportive in a way that isn’t confined by their ideas of what I should do. I am extremely lucky they were willing to take the financial risk to lend me the money required for me to train full time in New York.
At the beginning of 2024, I decided to take another risk and part ways from the commercial world and joined the Gibney program to train in concert contemporary. This style isn’t very accessible from where I am in Australia. Therefore, when I first started doing these types of classes, I was clinging on for dear life and at some points, I found myself just wafting around in the back, determined but also a little bit lost and confused but enjoying the experience so much of being one of the least comfortable dancers in the room. I’m a visual learner so having teachers who are not only incredible at teaching but also are phenomenal dancers that I could watch and learn was life-changing. I was lucky enough to be able to consistantly take class from my two favourite teachers and dancers during my stay in NY, Jess Smith and Chelsea Thedinga. The way they inspire me as movement artists, teachers, choreographers and humans are something words are incapable of expressing.
Another risk I took in this trip was reaching out to people that I considered to be on a whole different level in terms of dancing ability. A teacher connected me and Alex Schmidt via socials when I told her that I really liked contemporary floorwork. I took a look at Alex’s instagram and it left me absolutely gobsmacked. She is so incredible at what she does and I actually laughed at the idea of us jamming in a studio together because she’s so much better than I was. But there was also something in me that really wanted to jump at this chance to dance with this amazing person, so, in a class we were both taking, I went up to her in the most awkward way possible and now she’s my best friend. I’ve learned so much from her and I can’t even imagine New York without her.
The risks I took to live in New York, to reach out to people, to train, are things I believe changed the trajectory of my life immensely and I am so proud of myself for going through with it and learning to go with the flow.

Hoyori, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I communicate through movement. I have always loved storytelling and performing since I was a kid but training in New york has definitely widened my vocabularly to do so. My goal when I dance now is to maintain the human-ness of movement. To move my body in a way that is “dancing” or “tricking” whilst maintaining a strong base of being human. I believe this minimises the gap the viewer may feel when watching people perform and creates a more immersive experience that everyone can relate to and feel a part of. Every time I dance, I want everyone to be sharing an experience without having a strict line drawn between the audience and the dancer. Similar to the way that actors and actresses create a world that the viewer can be drawn into by placing ourselves into that make-believe, but realistic enough world, captivating us to the point where we might begin to say things like “if I was xyz character, I would’ve done this”.
In order to blur the line between theatricality, dancing and being human, I am training consistantly!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

This is something that I am still struggling with. From a young age, the value of working hard and putting effort into things I wanted to improve on was emphasised. This is something I am very grateful for as it has done a lot of good for me. However, at the same time, the value of rest days and taking time for myself in order to rejuvinate and avoid burn out or injuries is something that I am terrible at. The guilt of not training at any time there is time during the day to rent a studio or take class but not doing so is so overwhelming that I would find myself going from 10am-10pm daily. The willpower it takes to keep myself from going doing any physical activity when my body needs it is so much that since I arrived in NY in September 2023, I have a total of around 6 days where I didn’t do any dancing and 2 of those days I was injured or sick and one was Christmas and one was Thanksgiving. I am learning that this isn’t sustainable so the lesson I was constantly taught of “one day off sets you back three days” is something that I am still trying to unlearn.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Go to shows, performances, viewings of all sizes. Engage in conversations about what you saw – talk about what you liked, disliked. If someone inspires you or made you feel something through their movement, tell them. Using social media to repost about shows and share your opinions is a great, free way to support us!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: hoyori_01

Image Credits
Headshot by Johnny Diaz Nicolaidis Dance shots by Conrad Turner