~ An eccentric worldview that freely mixes Art and Entertainment
TOKYO GEGEGAY is a dance performance group formed and led by Munetaka Maki, aka MIKEY, along with four girls: housewife BOW, yoga instructor MARIE, University student MIKU, and a colleen bawn YUYU.
In 2013, with the challenge to win the DANCE@HERO JAPAN 5th SEASON contest on the late-night TV Tokyo program DANCE@TV, TOKYO GEGEGAY was formed by recruiting MIKEY’s own students. The dance piece that arose from MIKEY’s unique worldview was called Kiteretsu Mental World, and it wowed panel judge Terry Ito, which gave TOKYO GEGEGAY their debut win with a record-breaking score.
In 2014, TOKYO GEGEGAY’s self-produced parody video of the famous comedy duo Japan Electrical Union, which got over seven hundred thousand views on YouTube, was featured on TV. Afterwards, the group actually performed with the Japan Electrical Union.
In 2015, TOKYO GEGEGAY took part in the international street dance project, DANCE DANCE ASIA, which is a joint project by Japan Foundation’s Asia Center and PARCO that connects Japan with other Asian countries. They performed in Manila, Philippine in January and in Bangkok, Thailand in March. In Bangkok, they performed with a popular local dance company and also collaborated with children living in Southeast Asia’s largest slum district, the Khlong Toei area of Bangkok. By crossing cultural borders they engaged with communities through dance and received extremely positive coverage from numerous local media.
MARIE and MIKU appear in ONE OK ROCK’s music video “The Way Back” with YUYU as a choreographer.
In 2016, TOKYO GEGEGAY performed on the New Year’s TV program “Bakusho Hit Parade”. The famous comedian Takashi Okamura of the manzai duo Ninety-nine introduced TOKYO GEGEGAY and said, “Make no mistake about it – this group is going to get a lot of attention this year when they get their big break.” TOKYO GEGEGAY stole the show with their outstanding performance on live TV and won the hearts of viewers in living rooms nationwide.
In addition to all this, TOKYO GEGEGAY won the 10th Japan Dance Forum Award (co-winners with Mirai Moriyama). The panel of judges was made up of ten of the most famous and influential celebrities in the dance world, including critics, producers, and others. This award is given to an individual or a group with a remarkable year of creative activity and who has made a major contribution to dance. TOKYO GEGEGAY became the first winner of the award from the street dance scene, and won for their approval for their active role at home and abroad (like DDA, etc.), while previous winners have all come from the contemporary dance scene.
日本語プロフィール2013年、テレビ東京で放送された深夜番組、DANCE@TV内でのダンスコンテストDANCE@HERO JAPAN 5th SEASONに挑戦するべく、MIKEYが自身の生徒の中から選抜したダンサーで結成。MIKEYの独特な世界観から作られるダンス作品は「キテレツメンタルワールド」と名付けられ、審査員テリー伊藤も絶賛。歴代最高得点で優勝しデビューを果たす。 2014年、自主制作した日本エレキテル連合のパロディ動画がyoutubeで70万再生を超え、テレビ番組でも紹介。 その後、本家日本エレキテル連合とも共演も果たす。 2015年、国際交流基金アジアセンターとパルコが主催するストリートダンスで日本とアジアをつなぐ国際企画「DANCE DANCE ASIA」に参加。1月にフィリピン・マニラ、3月にタイ・バンコクで、公演を行う。バンコクでは、現地の人気ダンスカンパニーとの共演。また東南アジア最大のスラム街クロントイに住む子供たちともコラボレーションし、国境を超えたダンス交流を行い、数多くの地元メディアにも絶賛された。 ONE OK ROCKの“The Way Back”のミュージックビデオをYUYUが振付、MARIE、MIKUもダンサーとして出演。
2016年、元旦のバラエティ番組『爆笑ヒットパレード』に出演。ナインティナインの岡村隆史が「今年ブレイクまちがいなしの注目アーティスト」として東京ゲゲゲイを紹介。生放送でパフォーマンスを披露し、お茶の間の話題をさらった。 さらに第１０回日本ダンスフォーラム賞受賞が決定（森山未來とダブル受賞）。 審査員は、評論家、制作者など舞踊界の重鎮１０数名で構成され、一年を通じ目覚ましい活動によって、ダンスに貢献した個人または団体に対して贈られる。歴代受賞者は、コンテンポラリーダンス界からの選出だが、今回東京ゲゲゲイは、DDAなど国内外での活躍が日評価され、ストリートダンス界からの初受賞となった。