Friends of Nina, Japan (FONJ), in close
cooperation with Friends of Nina in New York, have started a “Nina Fund.” The
main purpose of this undertaking is to create a means of supporting initiatives to present
Nina in ballets that she has not yet danced in Japan, such as The Snow Maiden, Raymonda etc. Other projects may include
contributing to efforts to have a video made of Nina dancing one of her signature roles
with her home company, the Bolshoi, and to commission new ballets for her.
Admittedly, this organization is just in its
infancy, and plans will evolve little by little. Naturally, we have to start with modest
projects and hope to build up to bigger things. To date, we have cooperated in having the
T-shirts, calendar, postcards and other souvenirs that were made available to Nina’s
fans during her 20th Anniversary Tour of Japan in September 2001.
The Friends also helped arrange the autograph
signing session, held on September 19, 2001, at Chacott Tokyo’s main branch.
Following is a report on that wonderfully successful event, for which we had less than one
week to prepare:
Chacott contributed greatly to the success of this
occasion by organizing it efficiently. To avoid overcrowding, the store announced that
they were distributing tickets for the event (scheduled for 17:00 to 18:30), starting at 15:00
on the same day. Only 80 people could be accommodated. At first, we wondered if that many
people would come at 5:00 p.m. on a weekday, but we should have realized how popular Nina
is in Japan. We were told that some fans lined up one hour before the store opened, and
that all the tickets were gone in ten minutes.
Nina arrived at Chacott ten minutes late due to a
traffic jam. Wearing a red pullover and a long black skirt, she swept into the store with
a charming smile. The gathered fans applauded as she entered and her smile widened at her
warm reception. Fans lined up to get her autograph on a square piece of fancy paper
(called shikishi in Japanese). Others purchased copies of her Swan Lake book, or T-shirts
and other items to have Nina sign them. Each one also had an opportunity to have their
Polaroid picture taken with Nina. Nina obviously enjoyed getting in close contact with her
fans---she wrote the admirer’s name as requested, and some who talked with her in
English were rewarded by her answers. She gave her warm attention even to fans who did not
speak much English but tried. And she readily consented for repeat photos for those who
blinked while their photo was being taken. It was clear that Nina appreciated the
admiration of her fans, and her graciousness spread throughout the whole event. Many
admirers did not leave immediately after getting their autographs, but hovered around
until Nina left. (She herself stayed after the session and shopped, so some lucky visitors
also got to shake her hand.) Then they said “thank you” again and applauded as
Nina waved good-bye.
[We want to emphasize that the staff of Chacott
gave us their full cooperation in organizing this signing session in a very short period
of time. We would like to take the opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to
them, as well as to the staff of Japan Arts, who also gave us much encouraging support. A
report about this signing session was published in “The Way To Be a BALLERINA,”
vol. 40, issued by Bunnensha. Some of the photographs are from Ms. Tomoko Kobayashi, the
author of the report.]
PHOTOS
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