She was born on August 5 , 1954 in Indiana and grew up in a ...Narration Narration & Pictures &...
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She was born on August 5
th, 1954 in Indiana and grew up in a small town with her parents
and 3 siblings, then went on to college in Indiana. As she jokingly puts it, she “did
a 20-year home stay in the U.S.” when she was young.
She became interested in Japan when she was in college and came over for her junior
year, attending Waseda University for a year. She was interested in Japanese handicrafts
and weaving, and went on an independent study program to a zen temple in Nara. It was
there that she met the person who would literally change her life, her husband-to-be
Takashi.
After returning to the U.S. to graduate from college, she returned to Japan, married
Takashi, who is a potter, and they now live together in Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture.
In Tajimi, her desire to try new things and zest for life surfaced. She studied various
traditional Japanese arts such as ikebana, tea ceremony, the koto, the shamisen, and
even played the drums for Japanese bon dancing, for which she was much in demand.
At the age of 30, she started square dancing. At the time, she had to commute an hour
to the nearest square dance club, and so she decided to form her own club in Tajimi,
which is still going strong. Through square dancing, she also became interested in round
dancing and clogging, and this put her on the path of a lifetime love affair with dancing.
In 1993, she first learned about C/W dancing. It started out as something to do as a
demonstration at their National Square Dance Convention, but they decided that they
liked it so much that they would form a separate club, and 32 members got together to
start “Nagoya Crazy Feet”.
Even as she continues to be involved in square dancing, and works as a round dance cuer,
she slowly became more and more deeply involved in C/W dancing.
She is the main instructor for Nagoya Crazy Feet, and this year they will be holding
their 14
th annual Crazy Country Dance Festival event. They have brought over such
well-known international instructors as Scott Blevins, Jo Thompson, Greg Underwood,
Maggie Gallagher, Rachael McEnaney and Paul McAdam from Masters In Line, Michael Barr
& Michele Burton, and Barry & Dari Anne Amato. She has had a very strong influence on
the C/W dance scene in Japan, especially in central Japan.
Almost every year, she takes a group of dancers from Japan to attend some big dance
event in the U.S., and in addition to letting the world know more about the dance scene
in Japan, she has become friends with many dancers and instructors worldwide.
In 1999, she joined the JLDA (Japan Line Dance Association) where she is an executive
director, and works to instruct not only dancers but other instructors as well, and
strives to be a unifying force in the line dance scene throughout Japan.
It is no understatement to say that she is well-known in the dance community worldwide.
Martha Ogasawara. The source of her attraction for others is not only because she is
an excellent instructor and leader, but also because her personality is as bright as
the sun, she is fun-loving and funny, loves to play tricks and cares deeply about the
people around her.
In recognition of and as thanks for her many years as a leader in the Japan C/W dance
world, we hereby induct her into the Hall of Fame.