<Begin Segment 24>

SY: What did your family view, how did your family view you, you barefoot and hair down and dancing on the floor? How did they view your dancing modern dance?

MN: Well, they never saw me dance. I went to class and danced. So they knew I danced, but they weren't sure what it was all about. But they did come to some of the concerts that I was in.

SY: What was their opinion of your concerts?

MN: Well, I think after they saw it, I know I heard my sister say, "You know, I think maybe we oughta help her." [Laughs]

[Interruption]

SY: Well, I was just wondering, what do you think they meant by that when they said...?

MN: Well, they weren't doin' anything. They were just letting me go my own way. And so they thought that what I was doing was worth some help, I guess.

SY: Oh, they meant help you, you mean to support you?

MN: That segment of our family (has) always been (supportive) [Interruption] And out of that family, I produced two dancers, Marcia Sakamoto...

SY: Out of your own relatives, or your sister?

MN: Out of this family. Yeah, my sister's family. Marcia, her daughter. She did the most. She went through Mills College, and she taught at Ohio University, and then Washington, D.C., and started her own school in San Francisco, and taught at the University of Hawaii. (...)

SY: And then, and you...

MN: She was one of my prodigies. Then Leslie (Ishii) also studied dance, and she's in theater down in (Los Angeles).

SY: Oh, so when your family said they wanted to help, that you need some help, it meant to support you?

MN: Well, they wanted to accept me (and my work and think) that it's worthwhile.

<End Segment 24> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.