An interview with Yuko Hashimoto, a dance instructor and researcher of body movement, about her childhood talent for mimicry, her school years when she often felt lost in English and Japanese classes, her study abroad experience in New York, and the moment she awakened to the fascination of language.
橋本 有子 Yuko Hashimoto
Born in California, USA, and currently based in Tokyo. After returning to Japan at 10 months old, she grew up there for 25 years. Following a year working part-time after graduating from university, she completed her master’s degree at Ochanomizu University and, despite not being able to speak English, boldly moved to the United States. Through a university course titled Arts for Children, she experienced learning English from the perspective of a child. She joined Geomantics Dance Theatre as a dancer and created and performed works both in Japan and abroad. In 2013, she realized her initial dream of “teaching dance to children in English” while completing her master’s degree in dance at the State University of New York.
Afterward, she earned certification in Laban Movement Analysis (LMA/BF), a system of qualitative movement theory, at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in Brooklyn—a program that transformed her understanding of the body and movement. She returned to Japan in the spring of 2015.
She is now a full-time lecturer in physical education and dance at Ochanomizu University, teaches dance to young children, and provides LMA/BF training for specialists. She emphasizes creating a space for learning that is free, creative, and self-directed, nurturing both body and mind. In March 2018, she earned her Ph.D. in Sport and Health Science from Juntendo University.
Interview: An International Perspectives on the Arts
Interview: The Possibilities of Laban Movement Analysis
Yuko is a university instructor in Tokyo specializing in movement and dance, which in Japan falls under the category of physical education. In addition to teaching at university, she also teaches children’s dance classes in English and conducts special workshops for dance instructors, trainers, and bodyworkers. At university she teaches entirely in Japanese, but she wishes she could use English more often.
Born in California due to her father’s overseas work, Yuko returned to Japan before turning one and has no memory of life abroad. Growing up, she occasionally encountered her father’s international colleagues. While she noticed differences in appearance and language, she never developed a strong interest in them. Instead, what fascinated her most were her father’s souvenirs from abroad, which gave her glimpses of other cultures. To her, foreign languages and cultures felt like “something distant.”
Although her parents spoke English, Yuko was never encouraged to study it. In fact, English was her weakest subject, alongside Japanese. She excelled in math and science but struggled with language-based subjects. Expressing herself through words felt awkward, while physical expression came naturally. As a child, she often communicated emotions and impressions through body language or imitation of people’s movements.
For Yuko, English and Japanese language classes felt similar: both were hard to understand and tested in ways that didn’t make sense to her. She couldn’t grasp literary interpretations in Japanese, and English grammar rules seemed arbitrary. Her memories of English class are mostly about teachers’ exaggerated gestures rather than the language itself. In contrast, she found joy and clarity in science and math.
Although English remained difficult in school, her home life exposed her to foreign guests. Her family also hosted international students for nearly two decades. While Yuko struggled with formal English study, she enjoyed communicating with host students through gestures, laughter, and shared activities. However, school English (focused on reading/writing) and real-life communication (speaking/listening) felt like two entirely separate worlds.
In university, Yuko largely avoided English, taking required classes superficially. But she befriended a returnee student who had lived abroad and was surrounded by English-speaking friends. Observing how easily her friend connected internationally, Yuko began to feel that speaking English opened access to “another world.” She realized: “I was born in America, yet I can’t speak English. That doesn’t make sense.”
Motivated by her friend’s plan to study dance in New York, Yuko joined her for a one-month stay in Manhattan. Immersed in daily dance lessons conducted in English, she felt like she had landed on “another planet.” Surrounded by unfamiliar sights, sounds, and people, she experienced excitement and curiosity. For the first time, she understood English not as abstract symbols but as part of culture, movement, and lived reality. Language started to feel connected to meaning and context rather than just “dead symbols.”
Yuko came to see language as more than a tool—it carried culture, history, and emotion. Initially, English words felt like gray, lifeless symbols. But once she began connecting them to real contexts, they gained “color” and meaning. She discovered joy in “coloring” words and making them her own. This shift took time—about two years into her full overseas study experience—but it transformed her relationship with English.
After a short-term dance stay in New York, Yuko returned to Japan but suffered a herniated disc. Her dream of being a dancer collapsed, leading to depression and uncertainty. Deciding to “use her head instead of her body,” she entered graduate school at Ochanomizu University, where she studied movement scientifically—specifically, how spinal motion changes with aging, seeking insights into back pain.
Yuko realized that her true goal was practical, body-based research that could help her heal her back and allow her to keep dancing. She also wanted to use English and pursue children’s education through movement and dance. Since Japan lacked teachers in this area, she decided to study in the U.S., where dance and movement education was advancing rapidly.
She studied in upstate New York, near Canada, in a mostly white, rural community. To improve her English, she shared a suite with three young American undergraduates. While it accelerated her language exposure, the cultural and generational differences were stressful. At 25, with graduate experience in Japan, she felt like an “adult among children,” yet was treated like a baby because of her limited English. This role reversal shook her identity, leaving her questioning, “Who am I?” during her first year.
While language created frustration and misunderstanding, dance gave Yuko a pure way to express herself and be understood. A solo performance transformed how others saw her: no longer as someone who “didn’t understand,” but as someone with depth and experience. Dance revealed the raw, powerful nature of movement beyond words and offered her a sense of authenticity.
Although dance expressed what words could not, Yuko came to appreciate that in academia, language was essential for articulating techniques, giving feedback, and analyzing movement. Through this, she discovered that language added nuance, clarity, and deeper understanding to what dance alone could not convey. She grew fascinated by the synergy between movement and words.
Initially seeing language as an obstacle, Yuko later embraced it as a vital tool. She realized that combining bodily and verbal expression was transformative: each strengthened the other, creating a holistic way of understanding and communicating. This mirrored her bilingual experience—Japanese and English together sharpened her observation and expressive power.
Her advisor recommended Laban Movement Analysis/Bartenieff Fundamentals, which Yuko initially resisted. But as she studied it, the framework helped her understand her own movement patterns, including the cause of her back pain. It also gave her tools to design lessons, teach children’s dance education in English, and expand her expressive range. Language and theory became inseparable from practice, linking physical healing, academic growth, and self-expression.
Once she overcame the initial struggles, her progress accelerated. Teachers noticed her rapid development, describing her as a “sponge.” She regained freedom in her movements and confidence in herself. Looking back, she feels grateful for having chosen to study abroad in her twenties. The experience broadened her worldview, removed self-imposed limitations, and allowed her to live more freely and optimistically.
Yuko concludes that studying abroad fundamentally changed her life. Where she once turned inward, she now looks outward, with greater openness and vision for the future. She feels lighter, freer, and thankful for the choice she made.
