The Berryz Kobo feature in this edition of the mook wraps up with an interview with dance instructor Natsu Mayumi-sensei.
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--- Natsu-sensei, you worked with Berryz Kobo even before their formation, right?
Natsu: If we're talking about singles I did the choreography for, there would be only two. 'Gag 100kai bun Aishite Kudasai' (2005) and 'Waracchao yo Boyfriend' (2006). However, before they were Berryz Kobo, I instructed them as part of the H!P Kids (2002-2004), doing the choreography for the summer and winter H!P concerts, so in that sense we did spend quite a long while together.
--- What was your first impression?
Natsu: I thought the Kids were still in kindergarten. Okai and Hagiwara were the youngest, they really were kids! They'd cry when I taught them. At first, they were escorted by their mothers, and my honest, unrestrained impression was '
I'm not cultivating talents or artistes, this is child education!'.
--- Berryz Kobo's youngest is Sugaya Risako-san.
Natsu: I see...... Sugaya is the youngest...... No wonder she kept popping in my head (
laughs).
--- Firstly, how did you instruct these children in dancing?
Natsu: This is what I've learnt after long years of teaching, but I think you should approach them as people and not think of them as children. You feel like spoiling them a little because they're children, and since children are strangely intelligent, they'll catch you, making you want to spoil them, like '
If I say this, then sensei will be kind to me'. So you have to be straightforward with them at the start. That's the basics of teaching children.
--- Even before the question of being able or unable to dance, they can't understand the words of grown-ups?
Natsu: Right, at the time, just calling out their names would make them cry. Just calling out '
Hagiwara!', 'Fue.....', she'd cry (
laughs). Even after teaching her carefully, in the end, she couldn't understand anything. But still, keeping in mind that they're artistes and not treating them as children, I'd go '
You're working now, so please do it'.
--- I can guess how much trouble it was (laughs). However, having known them from back then, the weight of this indefinite hiatus must differ.
Natsu: It was the same for Michishige...... But it's definitely sad. Because Michishige and Berryz Kobo, they acted as aces rather than centres.
--- Which means?
Natsu: I might have thought this up myself, but centres and aces are different. For example, the centre of the collective that is Hello! Project would be Morning Musume。, and the centre of Morning Musume。 6ki would be Tanaka. You could say the centre is the face of the group. The people who appear at the front who have found a position besides that, those are what I call aces. Generally, the terms centre and ace are used with the same nuance. For a drama, the ace would be the supporting role who could eat up the leading role = centre. No doubt that the former Michishige was like that.
--- If we talk about AKB48, the centre would be Maeda Atsuko-san.....
Natsu: Or Oshima (Yuko), Shinoda (Mariko) or Takahashi (Minami) would be the aces. And having said that, I feel that Berryz Kobo are the ace-like presence within Hello! Project.
