"The World Dance Alliance has initiated a project to join in celebrating the millennium. It is a time to consider where we have been, where we are and where we are going. Therefore the theme of World Dance 2000 is 'Dance in the Past, Present and Future,' " said Miki Wakamatsu.
He is president of World Dance Alliance Japan and World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific, and promoter of World Dance 2000 Tokyo. At 65 he can still do a kind of vertical splits, standing on one leg with the other in a straight line above his head. To dance, for him, is more compelling than to eat or drink.
World Dance 2000 is a three-year conference and festival program in three parts. Last year, Philadelphia hosted the festival of dance of the past. This year's project -- the present -- is a three-city venture, held in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul. In 2002, the future of dance will be considered in Duesseldorf.