"Dropping"

Writing by Asako Takami, discovered by Ralph, her boyfriend, after her passing on. Sharing courtesy of Jaki-Hla.

We recovered some writing from asako, written a year or so after she started dancing, discovered odissi..

"Dancing" Asako Takami
May 1983 Tagore festival

"There is no single day that I do not think about poetry."

This is a quote from the poet, Daigaku Horiguchi, that I read in a newspaper a long time ago. It has been in my heart all this time and won't go away.I think his heart, kokoro, is so beautiful because of what he says in this single line.

Someone who always puts his/her thought deeply on one thing, no matter what it is about, I think that is beautiful. Whether one thinks about poetry or dance, it will take us to the same place.

Recently I feel something is dropping from my body while I dance. There is something dropping from my soles and the tips of my fingers. Now, I can say that dancing is the work of "dropping" to me. As I am dropping with all my effort, I am feeling certain things; what is the most important thing in everyday life, which direction I shall go, will all take a clear form.

"There is no single day that I do not think about dance."
Someday, I wish to say that from my heart.



And Ralph concluded at the end, "and finally, there was not a single day she did not think about dance."

Thank you for teaching us all the time, Asako-Hla!
Even when you are not physically here with us,
your thoughts and teachings will stay in our hearts forever...