Yuriko: An American Japanese Dancer: To Wash In The Rain And Polish With The Wind

by Emiko Tokunaga

329 pages

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is the biography of Yuriko, a talented and tenacious modern dancer who went from incarceration in the WWII Japanese internment camps to a principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company and as the lead dancer in "The King and I" both on stage and in the film version. She also broke the racial barrier in the Ladies' Garment Workers Union in the later 1940s. I found Yuriko's story very inspiring, because she never gave up no matter what obstacles were thrown in her path. She was extremely dedicated to her art, and that dedication combined with several fortuitous opportunities allowed her to achieve amazing things.
Tokunaga's writing style is straightforward and never descends into the salacious or gossipy. I especially enjoyed the way she explained the influence of many Japanese and American cultural concepts on Yuriko's life and work.

(Full disclosure: The author is one of the people I work for, and I have met Yuriko.)