The Makings of a Stage Mama

A bunch of girls were learning Hip Hop dance in the local community center. It looked pretty cool and I thought my own kids might be interested. A quick chat with the teacher, a brochure and I headed home, pleased that classes were fairly cheap – 3,000 yen a month.

The following Saturday, I dropped them at the community center and they followed along. Sensei even let them join in the little kids class for free so I felt it was even better value. After the Little Juniors class however, I was told that the girls should buy the team t shirt, black pants and shoes. The t-shirt and black pants set were 8,500 yen. The black dance shoes would be 15,000 yen a pair. My daughters’ growing feet had never been inside such expensive footwear. To cut my losses a little, I insisted on buying everything with ‘growing room’. Having just forked out over 70,000 yen in initial expenses, I told my two daughters that I wanted them to stick with this dance class for 5 years. 

Within just a few weeks, we were excited to learn that Kate and Hannah would join in a performance at the local shopping center. As newcomers and English speakers, Kate and Hannah were asked to sing while the others danced. Not knowing as much as I do now about what is expected of a stage mama, we were relatively late that day. The unspoken rule is that on performance days, we must be at the venue, with makeup and hair done, one hour beforehand. Kate and Hannah arrived at the time we’d been told, without requisite makeup. One of the lead dancers kindly used her makeup on Kate and Hannah – thick black eyeliner, cobalt blue eye shadow, bright pink lipstick, and sparkling stars on cheeks. The performance went smoothly and we ordered our own makeup set that day.

Soon after the shopping center performance, we learned that Gorie – a famous Japanese guy who dresses in drag and dances like a cheerleader – was running an All Japan Dance Competition. The grand prize would be to be on TV, dancing with Gorie. Flush with confidence after one of her teams winning a dance competition on Disney Channel, Sensei announced that she would enter two teams. Hannah was keen to sign up and practices began. Parents drove great distances to attend the practices and then spent the entire class peering through the gaps in the curtains, wondering how Sensei was going to divide thirty girls into two groups – and secretly hoping that their own daughters would make it into the group with the girls who won the Disney Channel dance contest.

Hannah had the Gaijin factor but not enough experience. She was put in the second team and Sensei gave them the name Magical Mixer. Sensei decided that their costumes would be classic cheerleading mini skirts and cropped, sequined tops. Sensei insisted that each costume must fit exactly and that the skirts must be short enough to give a hint of underpants. There were regular costume checks during practices and all the mums worked hard to avoid Sensei’s criticisms. The alterations were too difficult for my novice sewing skills. I asked a professional seamstress to take things in and up. It was about 6,000 yen for the alterations and about 10,000 yen for the costume. Classes were 1,500 yen per hour.

I got to know a few of the other mums in the Magical Mixer team as we discussed costumes and class times. None of us had our own names. We were all called by our daughter’s name, followed by “mama”.  I was officially Hana Mama.

06 January 2006

Today was our turn in the Gorie Dance Competition. I took Hannah to a hair salon as my hair dressing skills don’t meet with Sensei’s standards. Hannah’s hair looks good and I think the 3,000 yen it cost was worth it. The makeup is fairly low-key for this competition so I can manage that with our trusty Cherry Angels makeup kit. Nevertheless, preparations for the two-minute performance take the whole day for the Magical Mixer girls and their mamas.

Two thousand, three hundred teams around Japan enter Gorie’s dance competition. It must have been torture for the judges – watching about 100 teams each day dance to the same song for over twenty days in a row. The judges notice the gaijin and ask Hannah a few questions – which she answers in her local Osaka dialect. The mothers were hopeful but the competition was too tough. Neither team made it through. I’d like to have been there but only three stage mamas from each dance team were allowed to attend. I hear every detail on the phone that night from our leader mama, Chihiro Mama. She’s totally effusive about how well Hannah did and sure that the scout who was there is going to be contacting us.

15 January 2006

Gorie dancers and their mamas all met at a restaurant to celebrate our teamwork and to present Sensei with huge bunches of flowers. The meal cost 4,970 yen each. Chihiro Mama spent most of the evening collecting money and sorting the bill. When I asked why it wasn’t simply rounded up to 5,000 yen a head, she looks almost horrified because then she could be accused of making 30 yen profit per person. In many ways, Chihiro Mama is the ultimate example of all a stage mama should be: effusive, subservient, self-effacing and 100% committed to the team’s success. 

With the Gorie Dance Competition over, a search for more competitions began. Sensei decided on three competitions in Western Japan and created the Tokuren (extra practice) class for girls who were keen.  Hannah said she’d like to join so I agreed. Looking back, I was so naïve about the time, the financial commitment, and the pure exhaustion that this was going to involve.

02 March

Sensei explained that we would need photos of each girl to send in to competitions. A professional photographer was summoned and a community center room booked for the photo shoot. We all forked out 12,000 yen each for two rolls of photos.  

20 April

Sensei then said that we should get a professional cameraman to make a DVD of the girls dancing. I suggested we make our own DVD but was quickly told that we should get a professional. Obediently, I handed over 10,000 yen for the DVD.

09 May

With competitions only two months away, extra practices began on Saturday mornings. Hannah was effectively dancing from 9-5 on Saturdays. I was expected to be there some of the time. I shuttled back and forth between the community center and home, grateful that I lived close enough to do this. Other mums didn't have that luxury and their entire Saturdays were spent sitting on the floor, watching the girls practice.

03 June

In today’s lesson, the new costumes were unveiled. Sensei’s own dress style is reflected in the costumes – plunging neckline, sparkling pink, purple and gold material and a see-through panel running from armpits to ankles.  The older girls squirmed in embarrassment and decided to leave on their t shirts. Everyone’s underpants were showing through – so we were all directed to go and buy invisible underpants. Sensei announced that each girl should have an arm band made from the leftover material. More sewing! One mom tells me that stretch fabric requires stretch cotton and a special needle. I hate sewing.

The junior high school dancers gyrate to a song which begins with the words “Don’t be afraid to touch” Pelvic thrusting is called a McDonald as the girls move their hips in the shape of the golden arches. I’m not sure whether Sensei is training the girls to dance on brightly-lit stages or in seedy nightclubs. I’m relieved that Hannah isn’t in that team.

 07 June

Emails came flying this week. The yen symbol appears often. Room rent – 270 yen. Tokuren makeup kit - 1,500 yen.  Standard makeup set - 3,382 yen, Entrance fee for a dance competition - 1,500 yen.  Kitty for miscellaneous expenses  – 1,000 yen. Practice has taught me that each amount must be in a separate envelope with my daughter’s name, what it is for, and the amount written on the front. Mothers all take it in turns to collect money, copy music, book the community rooms etc. Sensei is very smart in the way she delegates all these jobs. While all the other stage mamas are doing their time collecting money, sending emails, renting rooms etc., I play on my limited language skills to shirk these responsibilities.  But I also know that unless I’m seen to be doing my share, Hannah will not be welcomed into the top dance group. Sensei has clearly stated that dance competitions can only be won if all mums and the team members are fully committed.   

17 June

I didn’t realize that Sensei was going to crank up the pressure on the stage mama training today.  When I arrived at 12:25 for what I thought was a 12:30 meeting, I was told that I was late and I had to wait outside the door. One by one, Sensei analyzed the attempts of each Stage Mama to tart up our daughter’s hair.  Most people had to buy hair pieces - which Sensei had on hand - to increase the volume of their daughter’s hair. We watched from the doorway and I fiddled a bit more with Hannah’s hair, realizing my fluffed-up ponytail was probably not going to make the grade. About fifteen minutes later, we had been shamed sufficiently and were let into the room. My heartbeat increased as Hannah’s hair was appraised. I expected the worst – more training and public embarrassment. Fortunately, Sensei did not have hair pieces to match Hannah’s hair color. The token ribbons I’d stuck around the ponytail gave Sensei the illusion that I’d made some effort. I passed! For the next few days at work, I excitedly told my colleagues that I’d passed the hair test. Most seemed non-plussed by this minor victory. Rather, they seemed to conclude that my summer vacation was long overdue – but we would not go on vacation this summer. We’d stay in Japan because Hannah had dance competitions coming up.

19 June

Today’s emails are hard to understand but I’ve picked up that someone left a hair iron in the tatami room. The caretakers of the community centre are not impressed as it could have been a fire risk and we should not be using the electricity. The offender must go to the community center to collect their hair iron between 10am and 12 noon on a weekday morning. I pity the offender and hope Sensei doesn’t put a big black cross next to her daughter’s name. Sensei’s book is getting bigger as her dance school expands. Under each child’s name, I suspect there’s a big section for the mother with careful records being kept on us all.

20,600 yen for the latest costume! I know why Sensei chose to email us that one. Other mums are also baulking at the endless expenses but we dare not say anything. If we do not toe the line, we risk ruining our daughters’ chances of promotion.

01 July

The summer costumes arrived today. These costumes are for non-competition events such as local festivals. They’re sporty–looking long pants, with a cropped, halter-neck top. Hannah’s is purple. Kate’s is red. The stripes down the legs are rainbow colored. I’d forgotten that I’d already paid 10,000 yen for each of these costume and am pleased to receive 1,380 yen change. As always, there is sewing to complete each costume. This time I have to cut out felt numbers and attach them. There is an iron-on cherry for the right butt cheek. The pants need shortening and I have to shorten the top to show more middle. Sewing occupies the first three days of my summer vacation – ugh!

All girls who enter competitions receive the honor of being able to wear a Cherry Angels gown over their costumes. While I foolishly imagined it would be a simple dressing gown, it was anything but. The Cherry Angels gown is a concoction of bright pink sparkle with a pastel pink ribbon around the waist and angel wings made from feathers. To top it off, there literally is a cherry on top – two cherries actually. I can’t remember how much we paid for this gown but I lamented that it meant more sewing and making the cherries (each to be 6 cm diameter) hanging on a 10cm “stalk.”  One stage mama brought her completed gown to show us. Beautifully sewn, she boasted that it had taken her a whole day to do the alterations. While many would think of war heroes or Jesus Christ as examples of people who have shown personal sacrifice, I now have visions of all the stage mamas in the world, fixing their daughters’ hair, applying their makeup and, most sacrificial of all, sewing all those bloody costumes. 

08 July

Today all the stage mamas in training attended a makeup lesson led by a professional makeup artist. The artist taught me a few new tricks and Hannah did look better with her freckles smudged out. The thick, black eyeliner is a little much up close, but I guess it will be okay when they’re on stage. Sensei encourages us to put fake eyelashes on our daughters. Sensei’s success in competitions is uncomfortably close to child porn and I’m not sure I want our 8-year-old daughter to be a part of it.

15 July

During practice today, the other mums all started bonding by gossiping about Sensei. Everyone is convinced her boobs are silicon. They are way out of proportion to her otherwise petite frame. Her fingernails are long and heavily decorated with sparkling jewels. Her hair is always elaborately coiffed and fake eyelashes are a given. She was seen with some young guy in her car, despite being married. Everyone thinks she is outrageous and making lots of money but no one dares cross her as it would be the end of their daughter’s prospects in the world of dance. In some ways, many of us envy her success – she’s not the one who is a slave to sewing. 

18 July

I learned today that the stage mamas of the top two teams meet midweek, while their daughters are in school, to bond, discuss costumes etc. I watched these same mums as they waited for the Tuesday class to finish. There was a serious amount of time taken to debate the price of some photos. The stage mama who had organized the photos was insisting on a very low price so that she wouldn’t look greedy. The other mothers were trying to get her to cover her costs. Shortly after, their 10-year-old daughters appeared, dressed in the miniest mini skirts I’ve ever seen with fish net stockings, earrings, fake boobs and heavy makeup that screamed prostitution to my Western eyes but were described as “cute” by their Japanese mums. The following day they were heading to Tokyo for the Cutie Honey Dance Competition.

22 July

I used to think that each stage mama’s sewing costumes was the ultimate sacrifice but today I learned new heights I can aspire to in the stage mama race. Every Saturday morning. the Tokuren Team get together to practice from 10 – 12, prior to their special lesson with Sensei at 1:45 and a general dance class at 4 pm.  Hannah complained that I never stayed the whole day, like some other mums. I guess she was a bit too young to understand the juggle of full-time work, running a house and being a good stage mama. Anyway, this Saturday, one girl was sick with a cold. Rather than risk infecting the rest of the team – just before our two big performances the following weekend – she stayed away.  Despite her absence, her mother traveled the usual hour and a half by bus and train to get to the practice. She came to cheer on the other girls and brought them all donuts as an apology for her daughter’s absence.

To appease Hannah, I stayed for the entire morning practice. Time passed quickly as I struggle to hand-sew Hannah’s second arm band. The first one was too narrow. While I’d heard Sensei say it should be 3 centimeters wide, somehow that changed to 4 centimeters. Sensei noticed the difference and I had to make a new one.  Later on, I tried to sound very casual but I wanted to know if this class would go on forever. To my relief, one of the other stage mamas told me that this class will wind up around October, when the competitions were over.  As I continue with the hand sewing, I fantasized about getting my life back.

In the regular 4 pm class, the mothers watched the final practice for the local festival performance. I noted that almost all mothers were videoing the practice so that they could go home and analyze the moves. I feel suitably shamed – knowing that our video camera was broken and that I hadn’t thought to bring a camera anyway. I was also aware that it was another cross against my name in terms of my potential as a stage mama. As I watched the girls dance, I secretly congratulated myself on the way I had shortened Hannah’s pants for her summer costume. Unfortunately, people didn’t notice this good sewing as they were more focused on the fact that the elastic in the waist was too big and Hannah’s pants were constantly falling down. Her dance steps turned into a carefully-timed balance of making the moves and tugging her pants up as high as possible before they started their steady move back down again. More sewing!

At the end of the class, Sensei got the four girls who competed in the Cutie Honey Dance Competition in Tokyo to talk briefly about their experiences. They came third out of 1,400 teams. These were the ten-year-old girls whose costumes and dance moves were highly erotic and wouldn’t have been received well in the West. Sensei finished the class by noting that the mothers who accompanied their daughters to Tokyo were rather extensively interviewed also. I resolve to lose weight, get some cooler clothes, wear a little makeup and try to speak more polite Japanese – just in case Hannah finds success on the dance floor.

03 August

Today was the Magical Mixer team’s first big competition. All the dancers and their mamas were there at 9am sharp. Some mothers had been up all night, too nervous to sleep. Others got up at 5am to do hair and makeup. I kept it quiet that we all slept until 7:30. It would reveal a lack of commitment.

At 10:30, Sensei made an appearance and went through the girls’ positions on an imaginary stage in the car park. She was dressed in a flowing top and short shorts. Her very high heels are strapped around her legs with long laces. A pink handbag, lots of bangles around one bicep and long, jeweled nails completed the outfit. My fears that she was grooming our daughters for a life of prostitution were reinforced not only by her own dress but by her carry bag which had the words “Loose House” written boldly across it.  

Shortly after Hannah’s team practiced in the car park, other members of the Cherry Angels Dance School popped in to our change room to show their support. They were wearing matching white t-shirts with our signature sequined cherries emblazoned across their busts. Some also had matching red and white caps. I was amazed by the energy of these people. These were the Cutie Honey girls who came third in Tokyo and their mums. I figured that they had no life at all beyond dance competitions.

It was time to compete. Hannah’s team moved like a flood of bright pink across a grey, sandy landscape into the performance building. Spectators stood with mouths gaping – stunned by these girls, walking in two lines with angel wings and cherries decorating their backs. The mothers walked behind.

The dances began at 11am and I was most excited by the chance to sit in air-conditioned comfort. We watched the first 10 dances. Our team was next. They did well and I would have liked to stay to see the other 14 performances but Sensei said we had to leave to attend to our daughters. While most other dancers watched the other groups dance, our girls were to return to their changing room. Cherry Angels Dance Club rules also included that costumes must be kept hidden by the girls donning their pink gowns when not dancing. It was stinking hot but everyone followed the rules exactly.

Back in the changing room, we helped the girls change into regular clothes. They were free until 2pm but were not allowed to leave the room. While all the other stage mamas dutifully thought to bring riceballs for lunch, I assumed I’d buy something at the festival. I went to the restaurant on the first floor and was grateful that they let me take a meal up to Hannah. I told myself that a good stage mama would have been better prepared. I should also have thought to bring some snack foods for Hannah to share with her team mates. I also noted that these stage mamas never seem to eat anything themselves – just serve.

By 2pm, we had all touched up our daughters’ makeup, their costumes were back on and we walked back to the performance building. We sat patiently, and awaited the judges’ decisions.

Third place went to the ballerinas in black, second place to a cool hip-hop group. First place…Magical Mixer. That’s us! We won! The tears began to flow, leaving rivulets of black down all the girls’ cheeks. The mothers were all crying too, I joined them. It was easy to cry. While I was happy for Hannah, I was miserable for myself. I knew this win for Hannah meant that she would want to continue and that my life as a Stage Mama was far from over.