By Andrew Hamlin
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
“Momotaro (The Peach Boy),” a centuries-old Japanese folktale, concerns a supernatural boy, born from a peach and raised by an elderly couple. He grows up to fight ogres and befriend talking animals. The Pacific Northwest Ballet’s adaptation of “Momotoro” brought together two distinct talents—one Japanese, one not—to help render the story through dance.
“As a Japanese artist, I believe the sensitivity and delicacy of Japanese culture are reflected in my creative work and in the way I move as a dancer,” said Kanji Segawa, who assisted choreographer Jessica Lang as a creative associate for the new ballet.
Pacific Northwest Ballet School students in the world premiere production of Jessica Lang’s Momotaro. (Photo © Lindsay Thomas.)
As Segawa explained, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s artistic director, Peter Boal, invited Lang and himself to create a story ballet that could connect with families and communities in the Seattle area.
“From the moment I was asked, I knew that ‘Momotaro’ would be the perfect subject. It is a traditional Japanese folktale I grew up with, and I felt it would resonate strongly with the many Asian communities in the region and beyond. I serve as the creative associate and dramaturg for the production. Jessica and I also collaborated on selecting the music and developing the set design concept.”
Narrator Brad Lo Walker had a much shorter journey to join the production. “I was born and raised right here in Seattle! I am mixed-race; half Chinese and half Scottish. When I first began acting, there definitely were not a lot of other actors out there who looked like me.”
Walker credits two mentors, Kathy Hsieh and Roger Tang, for helping navigate the Seattle theatre scene after his college graduation. He doesn’t have much experience with dance productions, but “I signed on to perform the narrator role about six months ago. Early on in the process, I met with Jessica and Kanji over Zoom to do a few read-throughs of the script and talk through their vision for the story.
“Once the script was finalized, I started the long process of memorizing my script, while also testing out different character voices. I then made rehearsal recordings of my narration lines for Jessica to use while crafting the show. I didn’t join the rehearsal process in-person at Pacific Northwest Ballet until the show was almost fully-staged.”
Pacific Northwest Ballet School students as peaches in the world premiere production of Jessica Lang’s Momotaro. (Photo © Lindsay Thomas.)
As Segawa recalls, he began working with Walker “last year, meeting over Zoom every few months. He has an incredible voice and the ability to transform into many different characters—from Momotaro to the animals to the Ogre. He was also very open to incorporating Japanese pronunciation, as I included some Japanese words in the storytelling.”
Asked about the biggest challenges of creating the ballet, Segawa said, “The main challenge was the sheer number of dancers involved. With 57 dancers per cast and two casts, the scale of the production was significant, and working through rehearsals was naturally very time-consuming. However, the energy the dancers brought was so incredible.
“We were also joined by extraordinary taiko drumming musicians from the School of Taiko, directed by amazing musicians and composers, Rintaro Tateishi and Asako Tateishi. Their music and presence added a powerful dimension to the production. It was truly beautiful to witness the shared energy between the dancers and the musicians—it created something deeply moving.”
Walker, for his part, found his first rehearsals “where I was trying to be fully-memorized, or ‘off-book,’ were a little rough. I am used to mainly performing in plays and musicals, so this was my first time rehearsing a show where I was the only actor amongst a large ensemble of dancers.
“Typically on my first off-book day, I’m used to sharing the stage with other actors who are also stumbling around without their scripts for the first time. I really didn’t want to let the dancers down by goofing my lines up! As with anything, practice makes perfect, and I kept drilling the lines over and over again at home and on my commutes to the rehearsal hall, and I got them eventually!”
Pacific Northwest Ballet School Professional Division students. From left: Christopher Karhunen (Momotaro), Evelyn Pak (Dog), Landon Spurbeck (Monkey), and Tess Fein (Pheasant) in the world premiere production of Jessica Lang’s Momotaro. (Photo © Lindsay Thomas.)
Segawa plans to stage Jessica Lang’s “ZigZag” for Pacific Northwest Ballet this coming May. As for Walker, he’s mostly teaching, so he’s focusing on staging plays with his students, and spending time with his 2-year-old son.
“It has been super fun to get back onstage and perform for an audience. Once the show closes, I will probably go back into acting retirement for a little while longer until my son gets older. But you can’t keep me off stage forever—I’ll be back!”
“Momotaro (The Peach Boy)” plays March 28 at McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer Street at Seattle Center.
For prices, showtimes, and other information, visit https://www.pnb.org/season/momotaro.
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