Yuya Fujinami came to the Momentum Worldwide Gallery to do an interview with me and Food Art
Week. After filming him dancing around the Kunstraum Bethanien, I joined Tainá Guedes, the
founder of Food Art Week and Elena Horgan to interview him. Yuya became involved with Food Art
Week through meeting Tainá at one of his performances of Be Water My Friend.

 

“I was dancing like water, with strong movements inspired by water. Tainá came to watch me at the
show and afterwards, she wrote to me and explained to me about the festival. I was very interested,
and I can relate to the festival. I like how water is very fluid and very dynamic…. She wanted to
collaborate with me and create a new solo. I am very happy to be a part of it.”

 

Yuya is from Japan, and has studied in Germany  and Italy. He had been working with
different dance companies for about ten years. Since moving to Berlin four years ago, Yuya has been
working as a freelancer. In 2018, Yuya severely injured his knee while dancing, tearing his meniscus.
After surgery to repair his knee, he was told by doctors that he could not bend his knee for six
months, something that essentially meant that Yuya would not be able to dance.

“After six months, I started intense rehab. It actually took ten months to get back to dancing again. In
January 2019, I started dancing again. I lost a lot last year, a lot of projects and jobs. 2019 is a very
special year as I finally came back on the stage. I have done new shows and met many new people,
like Tainá. I am really happy to be back, to (be able to) present my shows, my self and what I like.”
In Yuya’s dance, he likes to combine many different aspects in his performances from different
sources; “I like to combine contemporary dance and I also had a classic background. I also studied
gymnastics. My family, my mother and my sister, study martial arts. What I like to do is combine
those techniques. For me it was challenging to create a solo, that’s why I combined (my
performance) with those techniques.”