Today we’d like to introduce you to Manatsu Tanaka.
Hi Manatsu, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I am a bicultural multidisciplinary artist; 13 years in Japan and 13 years in the United States!… and the back-and-forth traveling is still going on, and I enjoy being able to work in two amazing cities, NYC and Tokyo. My career has turned out in a way that I never expected.
It’s like you first plant a seed expecting a flower to bloom, but not only a flower but also being surprised as you watch it grow into various fruits you’ve never expected.
Everything started when I was in a pre-professional Musical Theater company in Japan. Although I was able to pick up choreography pretty quickly in rehearsals, at that time, I didn’t have any opportunity to take dance classes and have proper dance training. My dance training started at 18 when I entered college for a dance program.
Through the 4 years in the college program, I really took the time to look into myself, “What makes me want to dance?” “What is it that I want to share and offer with the audiences and community?” During those 4 years, as much as I really missed Musical Theater, I set my mind up to just focus on getting the dance training I needed.
Just right before graduating college, for some interesting work of the universe, I was auditioning for a different production but there I was invited for an appointment for the National and International tour of RENT. It was my very first major audition in NYC and my first Broadway tour call. I haven’t sung at all in the past few years back then, but I did the best I can to prepare and went all the way through the cuts till the very final round. Back then, I was devastated when I found out that it went in a different direction, but now looking back at it, I truly see that as a turning point for myself, reminding me to ‘pursue whatever you want to. Don’t get stuck and obsessed with one career title. Dance, sing, act, try new things, that’s all in your capability.’
After that eye-opening experience, I just kept on going trying new things and jumping out of my comfort zone, and before I realized it, I was immersed in the world of immersive theater; where I would find my door to the community I was longing for.
I met my drag mom, my way into Aerial Silks and striptease, and a community, a family of artists who are proud of who they are, and showed me how powerful it is to believe in your authentic self.
2022 was a huge step forward for my career, making my dream of going back and forth between NYC and Tokyo for gigs. I was in 3 productions in Japan and 2 in NYC. A lot of traveling, and the best part of it where those contracts were in different fields of performing arts; theater, immersive, opera, development workshops,
And recently, only three months into 2023, a new chapter just started in my career; working as an understudy/swing in productions.
I am currently a swing for an ongoing immersive murder mystery production (The Art of Killin’ It, final appearance 4/29), and an understudy for a play that has its month-long run in DC. (The Nosebleed by Aya Ogawa, closing 4/23)
For someone who is a dancer first, I am beyond thrilled to be gaining experience in acting AND being an understudy/swing through these projects. I personally love this role and have so much passion and enthusiasm for it, and I want to keep on pursuing this career, hopefully one day serving on a big production like off-Broadway and Broadway shows and tours.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Since I have been back and forth a lot between the United States and Japan, travelling back-to-back, the sense of “being in-between spaces” has been a mix of the joy of the versatile perspectives I see in anything and having the sense of isolation from not quite fitting in either places. Until very recently, I have been having two different identities about myself, depending on which country I would be in at that time.
Because the way rehearsals are run, and the work culture is very different between these two countries, there are some kind of adjustments and compromises that need to happen. However, I didn’t want to keep on having two separate behaviors and identities and started seeking a way how to allow more fluidity and versatility above this grounded stable idea of myself.
If the pandemic didn’t cause all the lockdown and unemployment, I wouldn’t have even considered going back to Japan and see how my career in performing arts could have expanded. In the midst of the pandemic depression, anxiety with my artist visa application process, and processing the feeling that I am “running away” from NYC, the toughest part was that even when I arrived in Japan, my home country. Because I had zero connection with the theater and dance field there and had no creative/artist friends like I have in NYC, I felt very isolated.
I am home, but why do I feel so alone?
I am “back,” but why do I feel like I have nowhere to go?
It was, for sure, a tough road to overcome. But I am really glad that I figured out a way to keep motivated and keep on looking for places and communities that I can put myself into. I went to many workshops, classes, and studios and kept on meeting new people. I reached out to artists with who I really resonated with their work. I never imagined that all of the seeds I have planted would turn full bloom on me during my stay of almost 2 years in Japan. I have found such a beautiful community in Japan, have met amazing people and creatives, and I sure have a base there, and finally, I can have this sense of “I have a place, a community, a project to go back to” in my home country. The sense of “belonging” to something, somewhere, to a place. And that I have that in not only one but two of the busiest exciting cities, NYC and Tokyo, and being able to offer my authentic self is just simply awesome.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As someone who really feels and processes emotions and experiences very deeply and intensely, I am aware that I have this abstract source of energy so dense that is always ready to be shared and projected through creativity, expression, performance, and art. One of my unique assets of me as a performer is probably the diverse outlets I have when it comes to expression; Dance, Acting, Singing, Stage Combat, Aerial Silks, Origami, Drawing, Creative Cocktails, playing the piano… I just simply have so much that I want to share with others, and while sometimes I struggle with how to translate this abstract energy source I have within me into something that is shareable and giftable to others, but still, I thrive for the moments when I get to share the experience or my work with someone, and they take something away from that.
From Musical theater to concert dance to contemporary dance to immersive, jumping and leaping from different forms of expression, I realized that versatility was something that I really wanted to be one of my strengths, and wanted to be a performer known for their versatility in what they have to offer.
That versatility in skillsets and what I have to offer has led me to find my calling (I really do believe so!) as a swing/understudy. It’s like being a shapeshifter in the puzzle piece of the production, fully utilizing the versatility and flexibility with adapting to uncertain and unexpected occasions, remaining calm, and having the punctuality to maintain the craft and work on your own.
It is truly the most demanding and hard job in any theater gig, but it is so rewarding, and the density of the time you get to work on the production, knowing the work inside and out, is so unique and special, and I would not trade it with anything else.
Aside from performing, one of my biggest accomplishments I consider would be obtaining my O-1 visa, known as the Artist visa in the Fall of 2021. This whole journey really made me stronger as a person, taught me patience, composure, and to really allow time to make things happen, and simply reminded me of how much support I have around me from my peers, friends, community, family, and people that I worked with and how much people are willing to help me stay in NYC to keep making art with them.
Because my artist visa process happened in the midst of the pandemic and the lockdowns, the timeline that I planned for this process, the visa processing times by the USCIS offices, everything was uncertain. Usually, for this type of visa, the processing time is between a month to 3 months. Mine took a year and a half.
Luckily, I was on a contract in Japan and was occupied for most of the time, but still, there were moments where I felt like I had no stamina left to keep the faith and hope up for my case. But, with the support and encouraging words and support from my friends both in Japan and NYC, I didn’t give up. And finally obtained my visa.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
The spirit of just diving into the unknown and uncertainty without any assumptions or thinking about the benefits you would gain from that experience and choice has truly led me here today. If it interests you, do it! If it excites you, hell yea! I truly believe that even in the worst unorganized messy situations, there is always a hidden pearl you can find and take with you, so truly, as long as you put your whole effort and pour your passion and love into what you do, nothing will ever be a wasted time or in vain.
You truly never know what you have done and worked in the past may connect and apply to something you have never thought it would. All the seeds planted are never ever going to be wasted.
And as long as you plant them with the love and actually enjoy the process of planting them, you will end up with outcomes that will truly surprise you. It’s like, you thought you planted a tulip seed, and it blooms into a sunflower because you put extra care and poured all of your love into that seed of potential; it believed that it can be more than what was planned originally. And because of those moments, I can continue to keep on going and pursuing this career, make it unique, and make it my own.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.manatsutanaka.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manatsu.tanaka/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@manatsu.tanaka
Image Credits
Daisuke Kimura
May Meng
Romance Hashimoto
Yulia Skogoreva
