Why Lu?
URL: www.lupoledance.com
Lu Nagata is a Tokyo-based artist bringing pole dancing out as an art and fitness form completely detached from the adult industry. Quite frankly, due to the youth and shady origin of this art, most people have no idea what it is and for good reason: the art is only now emerging with tons of hype from the shade of strip clubs where it originated and artists are pulling in all directions to fit their vision. The result is a vibrant, interesting, fascinating mess that must always be seen in context. And Tokyo is a unique story deserving of discussion on its own.
Lu is combining elements of jazz, ballet, belly dance, and other arts with pole dancing to create a new medium for expression - one that is at once physically demanding, acrobatic, while conveying upmost respect for female beauty and grace.
Working with Lu was my first real experience with entrepreneurship. Having met in NYC, we began by working to start a school in New York to be followed by a school in Japan and, just as we were about to make it in the big apple (invitation by Crunch Gym to design a program for them, partnership with Baila Tango, invitation by Zink magazine), we ran into a misunderstanding with the INS. So Lu ended up in Japan and we decided to reverse the order and, while we were figuring things out with the lovely US immigration, start a school in Tokyo. Our troubles turned out to be a blessing in disguise: Lu started teaching and went from 0 to 300 students in about 4 months. At that point we decided to open a studio and now I am part owner of the biggest pole-dancing studio in Asia called Art Flow Tokyo and located in the business district called Akasaka. This has been an incredibly interesting and volatile journey, and, most amazing is perhaps the context: Japan. In Japan, women have traditionally been second-rate citizens and, in this country full of paradoxes, there is a major social, economic, and psychological shift with re-emergence of women. Lu will very likely be one of the major forces in this liberation. And she is not the only one. The traditional monolithic Japanese mentality is slowly eroding under pressure from artists, changes in busines structure (LLC structure was adopted in Japan only recently facilitating life for small business), and arts such as pole dancing and flamenco, which are taking the country by storm.
Perhaps when I have some more time, I will elaborate.
In the meantime, we need business help. We have temporary exclusivity of pole distribution on the Japanese market. Just to give you an idea of what that means, I heard recently that Louis-Vitton has 50% of their market in Japan. Lu is also looking for managers/agents in Tokyo, Europe, and US. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact me at nikitab@lupoledance.com.