The Tokyo Girls: Behind The Team With Director Kristin Egusa
[Hi-Res Photo]
By Sandra Colton
Dance Track Magazine
January 12, 2011
Top NBA Teams are part of our upcoming issue due out this April, so we thought we’d give you the goods on the newly formed Tokyo Girls directed by Kristin Egusa. This new team was handpicked from auditions with judges including Lisa Estrada (Director of the NBA Los Angeles Laker Girls) and Audrea Harris (Director of the NBA Los Angeles Clippers Spirit). With Kristin at the helm and a panel of hard-to-impress NBA veterans, the team assembled is now breaking the mold on the court performing as the dance team for the Tokyo Apache basketball team.
Kristin spent four years as part of the NBA Los Angeles Clippers Spirit Dance Team and continued her participation by hosting games and choreographing the team’s performances and audition material. Her career has taken her to Japan where she has taught professional dance team clinics. Kristin said, “When this opportunity came up, I did not hesitate to apply for the position. This is my dream job! I was confident that my dance background and experience in Japan was a perfect fit for this opportunity. I am very fortunate to be part of the Tokyo Apache organization!”
Taking on two roles, Kristin will serve as the director of the Tokyo Girls and dance on the team as well. No stranger to working with dance teams, her choreography has been placed on some of the best teams in the country including the UCLA Dance Team and USC Dance Force. An alumni of Cal Sate University, Long Beach with a degree in Communications, Kristin has performed with many well-known recording artists like Christina Aguilera, N.E.R.D., David Guetta and the Backstreet Boys. You can also see her sweating it out on the DVD sensation “Hip Hop Abs” starring Shaun T.
The Tokyo Girls auditions were in October 2010 and Kristin said, “We spent weeks canvasing the professional dance world and only inviting the best of the best to attend.” With 33 dancers at the audition, the goal was to narrow the field down to 12 dancers. Auditions also took place in Japan where three dancers from Japan were added to the team. Kristin said, “We called on Yoko Yagishita, former Clippers Spirit and Chargers Girl, to run the audition along with the Tokyo Apache President and former NFL player, Chris Hetherington. They flew out from Japan to meet the other dancers in Los Angeles, and rehearsals started right away.”
The Tokyo Girls selected are Kim Loberg, Destiney Bleu, Deanna Spinale, Suzy Ortiz, Katie Sundling, Julie Dragicevich, Erica Labrador, Emi Noguchi, Sachiko Sekine, Akemi Sato, Noriko Ikemi and Kristin Egusa. Wearing costumes designed by Dallas Dancewear, the Tokyo Apache have assembled a dance team with NBA and AFL credits. Kristin said, “The Tokyo Apache game entertainment will be very similar to the NBA entertainment. The girls will perform jazz, hip-hop and fun novelty routines to get the crowds pumped!” Organizers have planned for the Tokyo Girls to perform 5-6 routines during timeouts and half time of each game. We wish them luck when their season!
