Hirokazu Tategata's Danceable LIFE Vol.5

The "Tategata World" in search of songs that are unique to him
Hirokazu Tategata (Actor, Dancer, Choreographer)

The other day, I did a live singing and dancing performance. Due to space restrictions, I couldn't make big movements, so singing was the main focus. Of course, I dance and sing on stage at The Convoy Show, but it wasn't until about three years ago that I started doing solo live performances with singing as the main focus. Before that, I couldn't even imagine doing it...or rather, I was really bad at singing. I had a complex about singing, so I was scared of it and was really afraid of singing. I just hated it so much...
But in Convoy, we have to sing. And because there are so many of us, we have to harmonize. At first, I couldn't get the notes right, and harmonizing was an incredibly difficult task. But as I continued to sing, even if it was forcing myself, it gradually became more enjoyable, and I was able to get the notes right and harmonize, and then I began to understand the joy of singing together. It's the same with dancing and acting, I'm clumsy at everything, so it seems like I always start out with a complex (laughs).
However, I had never thought about doing a live performance that mainly consisted of singing. The person who gave me the push was Ai Nishina, a pianist and electric organ player. It all started when I planned to sing at a private event and asked Nishina to accompany it.

"The important thing is to get used to singing, and to sing with a live band. Even if you're not good at it, if you stand in front of people and sing, you'll definitely get better."

I felt like I was being told that I couldn't be complacent just because I wasn't good at singing. Since then, I've been trying my hand at singing live with a live band that includes bass, drums, and percussion.
Of course, learning the basics is important. By properly learning how to project your voice and open your mouth, you can stabilize your pitch and sing more easily. Perhaps thanks to that, I've recently been finding myself thinking more and more about how interesting it would be to sing like this.

I am by no means a skilled dancer, so when it comes to dance I have aimed to express my own unique worldview, what might be called "Tategata-ness."
The same goes for singing.
In order to become more myself and have my own unique persuasive power, I want to be able to sing songs that are true to myself, rather than just singing well.

When I was young, I was desperate to learn technique. I think that was absolutely necessary, but as you get older, what is required changes. In my case, I was in an environment where I could also learn singing and acting, so I thought it would be a waste to stick to just dancing. I came to think that mixing various elements would allow me to have a wider range of activities and have a longer-lasting career.

Although I am still learning, I feel that recently the boundaries between "singing," "dancing," and "acting" are starting to blur when it comes to expressing my own worldview.