Meet Azuki Umeda | Dancer, Choreographer, Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Azuki Umeda and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Azuki, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I received two degrees in Dance and in Education during undergrad at Chapman University. I knew that I wanted to teach and share my knowledge of dance with future generations. On top of that, I have enjoyed producing works and presenting at festivals and in different shows in the greater Los Angeles area. I remember asking one of my mentors, Will Johnston, how he started his company, Entity Contemporary Dance. His answer was so simple, yet so daunting, “Just go for it.” From there I used my company, AU.THENTICITY DANCE CO., as a hub to create different projects, work with different dancers, and teach at various studios. One of these studio parents asked if I had any studio intensives available from the company — from there, AU.THENTIC EXPERIENCE was born. This experience has been a lot of trial and error, and I have appreciated the malleability of this project. I have been able to hire people that I look up to, but also considered my friends and that I trust as educators. The company itself has evolved overtime, especially as I went to grad school for Dance. There I learned the importance of my identity as a first generation Queer Asian woman. I want to produce work that is dedicated to the AAPI and LGBT+ community; I strive to amplify these voices in the dance industry. My company is premiering our first ever evening-length work, how i became kinder, & kinder which explores the familial relationships in an Asian household. I hope to keep diving into this idea, embracing my culture every day as I continue to navigate my role as a minority artist.
Looking back at my company and what we have done, I am very proud of all the projects we have completed. AU.THENTICITY DANCE CO. was created while I was a junior in college, so expenses related to creation (ie: studio rental, costumes, dancer’s rate) wasn’t as much of a limiting factor in terms of the scope of our projects; creating with the support of an institution made many of those things more easily accessible. It’s not as easy now, it is increasingly important to me that we adequately honor dancers’ time by insuring that they are compensated while also being mindful of all the other expenses that go into creating work. In our current capacity, I seldom have the excess funds to pay myself and often donate much of my time to our projects as a labor of love. I like to prioritize the dancers doing my work, which is often intricate and mentally challenging.
While it is a difficult task to also think about the financial aspect of this business, I do need to remind myself that I started AU.THENTICITY DANCE CO. simply to present my work and share with others. I love creating, I love being around passionate people like me and collaborating to create meaningful work that can remind us all that we are not alone.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My art has been ever-evolving, but it started off as my love for music. I LOVED Tom & Jerry as a kid, and it played such an important role for my passion for movement and music. I loved hitting the musical notes with my body, only to realize that I have synesthesia, which is when you see music rather than just hearing it. I have a type of synesthesia in which I am able to see shapes and movement, which has helped me create movement. With this, I have a company, AU.THENTICITY DANCE CO. which has been a place for me to explore my identity as a 1st generation queer Asian women. My identity has shaped me to be sensitive, but also empathetic towards the movement and my interactions towards my peers. I’d like to create a “home” to do what we love to do with this company, make mistakes, not be perfect. I want to research, explore, and make art with others who also value these things. I am really excited to announce my first full-evening length show happening on February 9-11th. The show is entitled “how i became kinder &kinder,” and it explores and individual that reflects on their past through an AAPI lens. While I don’t consider this work to be autobiographical, it is a work that has been relatable to my life as well as others. I created a 30-minute version of this work in March 2023 as part of my MFA Thesis. Barbara Wittman, curator of the Dance Festival at The Odyssey LA, reached out to me to present this work at her venue. I am grateful for this opportunity to present at The Odyssey in LA, this has been a dream of mine to present a company show, and I cannot believe it’s happening so soon!

I say that because a challenge I am overcoming is separating my relationship with dancers professionally vs. personally. As someone who has gone to school for 18+ years, dance was one of the only ways to make friends and get to know people. Upon graduation, I realized how important it was to separate those boundaries between personal and professional spaces in order to have healthier relationships. If we have to work, we have to work. If we want to have fun, we can do that too but it is important to know that there is a time and place for each.
When my dancers don’t understand that separation, it gets difficult to maintain a productive and healthy environment for creation; things can become messy. While we all want to have fun, I am also creating vulnerable work that should be respected. When that respect is not reciprocated, I have had to make the difficult decision of letting dancers go form a project. It has happened a few times in my choreographic career, and I still grieve the lose of close friends and talented artists. I don’t want to be the bad guy, but in the end, we are working together respectfully and collaboratively.
I’d like to add that I am not perfect. I too have had trouble sometimes negotiating the differences between personal and professional relationships with dancers and I sometimes have to remind myself to stay true to the intention and purpose of our creative working relationships. Having these tough conversations as a leader is never easy, as I want to make sure my dancers know they are appreciated and never taken for granted, but if they don’t reciprocate that respect or care then these difficult decisions have to be made.

I want people to know that kindness and gratitude is a simple practice that everyone can do. While I can sometimes lose sight of them in tense times, I always come back to knowing that there are kind people in this world. As a minority, I want people to remember me as someone who spoke up for Asian folx. Being able to tell my story, one that not many AAPIs have been able to is such an honor. I want to let everyone know that finding authenticity and intention in one’s life can make a huge difference with how we choose to show up for ourselves and others day after day.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love being at this little cabin in Aguanga, California. It’s in the middle of nowhere, and you can only hear birds chirping. This tranquil area has been a place for me to meditate, find myself, and get work done. Nature has been a beautiful place for me to understand myself and my surroundings. I consider myself to be minimalistic, and I like to be in a simple, yet calm place to hang out with a friend.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have to give a shoutout to my friends. I am an introvert and sometimes I doubt myself as the shy one leading a room to create, dance, and share knowledge. I have a hard time opening up because of a lot of obstacles I had to face that led me to losing friends. I never want that to happen in my life again, but it is also inevitable.

Mo Goodfellow, Jennifer Vieweg, Nikki Charest, Erica Lucia, Olivia Liberati, Aisha Redick to name a few… they have supported my work since day 1 and I appreciate them very much. They are all so talented in their fields and it makes me want to work a bit harder every day.

I’d also like to thank my therapist, Menuka, and my life coach, Yuri. I would have been lost in my journey of where I wanted to go. I am so glad I met all these people… writing this right now makes me realize how much support I have in my life, and I am eternally grateful.

I also would like to thank everyone who has taken my classes or have worked with me in the past years. It means so much that people take their time and money to watch my shows, take my classes, and support my work. I don’t take these things for granted, and I hope to keep creating and keep doing what I love!

Website: authenticitydance.com

Instagram: @azuki.u

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azuki-umeda-768040161

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/iamazookie

Image Credits
Moving Media LLC Jordan Fox Hannah Mayfield