4545 Wall St Jrnl: Banker Now Regards $15.4 Million
Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2006 10:52:20 -0400
From: "Nitin Kibe" <nitinkibe@hotmail.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] Wall St Jrnl: Banker Now Regards $15.4 Million
Lessons As a Serious Misstep
To: tango-l@mit.edu, TANGO-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
More on the Hong Kong banker and her instructors, lessons, fees, etc etc on
Thursday's Wall Street Journal front page, the daily "human interest" story.
Included is a little aside from a HK AT teacher who charges a mere $70 per
hour.
Best to all.
NK
Wash DC
PS: I am still not sure whether the numbers in the article are in HK$ (8 HK$
= 1 US$) or US$, but the WSJ normally qualifies $ if it is not US$. In any
case, it's still large numbers.
******************
Banker Now Regards $15.4 Million Lessons As a Serious Misstep --- Ms. Wong
Sues Dance Coach Who Called Her 'a Cow'; Pursuit of Ballroom Glory
By Kate Linebaugh
1247 words
3 August 2006
The Wall Street Journal
A1
English
(Copyright (c) 2006, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
HONG KONG -- As the top Asia private banker for HSBC Holdings PLC, Mimi
Monica Wong knows how to make wealth last. But these days, she is better
known for the millions she lost perfecting her rumba.
Two years ago, Ms. Wong agreed to pay $15.4 million for eight years of
unlimited Latin-dance instruction. About half of that sum she paid up front,
in cash. The 61-year-old widow recently said she was "looking for the last
bit of glory in life."
But the arrangement soured even before it took effect. Now Ms. Wong is suing
her dance instructors in a Hong Kong court seeking the return of her $8
million pre-payment. The instructors, 15-time world Latin dance champion
Gaynor Fairweather, of the U.K., and her Italian husband Mirko Saccani, are
countersuing for the $7.4 million outstanding under the agreement.
Hong Kong has no shortage of big spenders. Home to some of Asia's great
fortunes, the city of about seven million boasts the most Rolls-Royces per
capita in the world. Yet even here, the equivalent of $5,000 a day for eight
years is a lot to pay for dance lessons.
"It's just ridiculous," says Keith McNab, an Argentine tango instructor in
Hong Kong who charges about $70 an hour. "No one could actually take enough
lessons to make it worth it."
In a letter to a local newspaper, a Hong Kong civil servant said such sums
could inspire a career change. "Ladies, I am now available to give dancing
lessons," wrote John Shanahan, a senior officer at the city's anticorruption
watchdog. "Payments are accepted in advance. Pole dancing costs extra."
But for many women in high-society Hong Kong, dancing is serious business.
At glitzy charity balls, Chinese tycoons sometimes turn into wallflowers as
their wives dip and twirl in the arms of a paid partner -- often a younger
Western man. Among this crowd, it's not uncommon to fork over $500 for an
afternoon social event called a "tea dance."
Hong Kong has "some of the craziest prices in the world," says Walter Wat,
president of the Hong Kong Ballroom Dancing Council.
The sums approach the stratosphere when a dancer hits the international
"pro-am" circuit, where aspiring amateur dancers, mostly female, take part
in competitions with professional partners. Daily lessons are necessary to
master the five dances that make up competitive Latin ballroom -- cha-cha,
rumba, samba, jive and paso doble. There are also travel expenses, entry
fees and the cost of costumes for two.
It was this kind of dancing that grabbed Ms. Wong. She rose to the top, just
as she had in private banking, and she loved it. "It's like, you know,
winning Wimbledon," she said in a recorded conversation with a friend that
was referred to in court. Ms. Wong, Ms. Fairweather and Mr. Saccani all
declined to comment for this article.
Off the dance floor, Ms. Wong has an impressive resume. A graduate of
Columbia University, she worked her way up HSBC, the world's biggest bank by
assets, to become head of its private banking business in Asia. The daughter
of a Hong Kong shipping magnate, Ms. Wong is known for her composure,
elegance and perfectionism at any cost.
In 2000, Ms. Wong began taking lessons from Ms. Fairweather, who ruled the
Latin dance world for 15 years with her then-partner Donnie Burns. The pair
is credited with injecting a new flair to the form, and for slowing down the
samba to allow for more swagger, according to Hong Kong dance teachers. For
their service to dance, each was awarded an Order of the British Empire, a
lesser honor than knighthood.
Under Ms. Fairweather's tutelage, Ms. Wong increasingly devoted herself to
dancing. Often she would dash away from work at lunch for two hours of
lessons, only to put in two more at the end of the day, according to
statements made in court. Ms. Fairweather would labor over her student's
dress designs, drawing floral patterns and hiring seamstresses to affix
hundreds of Swarovski crystal beads, she testified in court. "To me, she was
everything," the 49-year-old Ms. Fairweather told the court.
After two years of instruction with just Ms. Fairweather, Mr. Saccani became
part of the package. According to court statements, Mr. Saccani instigated
longer-term contracts with Ms. Wong for greater and greater sums, paid well
in advance. After he began instructing Ms. Wong, according to court
testimony, he bought a Ferrari.
In 2002, Ms. Wong paid $135,000 for a fixed number of lessons and
competitions. Shortly afterward, she shelled out $1.3 million for a two-year
package of unlimited lessons until 2004.
The work paid off. With Mr. Saccani as her partner at the 2003 Emerald Ball
Dancesport Championships in Los Angeles, Ms. Wong won the title of "Top Gold
Lady."
On top of what she had spent already, Ms. Wong then agreed to pay $15.4
million over eight years for exclusive access to Ms. Fairweather's and Mr.
Saccani's services.
Ms. Wong swallowed the high prices because "she was desperate to continue
and could not bear to throw away all her hard work," according to her
closing statement to the court.
What upended the multimillion-dollar dance partnership was an incident on a
Wednesday afternoon in August of 2004. At the Li Hua restaurant, a favorite
afternoon dance venue, Ms. Wong and a group of other women were taking part
in a mock competition.
That day, the banker was heavier in her step than usual, according to
statements in court. In front of fellow dancers, Mr. Saccani shouted at her
to "move your arse," and called Ms. Wong a "lazy cow," according to court
documents.
Other dance teachers testified his verbal abuse contained threats of
physical violence. Instructor Philip Redmond told the court he heard Mr.
Saccani say, "If you do it again, Monica, I'll smash your head against the
wall." Mr. Saccani denies having said anything beyond some "motivational"
language, though he admits to shouting expletives at her.
Two days later, she cut short another practice session. That night, in the
taped conversation submitted to the court, she told a friend that the money
involved was "stupid," "crazy" and "completely out of hand." The two sides
fell out further over the following days and Ms. Wong quickly won a court
order to freeze the bank accounts of her instructors.
Ms. Fairweather and Mr. Saccani say they remain ready to fulfill the terms
of the contract. "It's not fair to have such love and work put into a person
and one day she's not there," Ms. Fairweather told the court.
The publicity around Ms. Wong's case hasn't been good for a private banker,
a job that prizes discretion, other bankers say. However, HSBC stands behind
its banker, and after a brief leave of absence to attend the two-week
hearing, she is back at work helping Asia's wealthy plan their financial
future. A judgment in the court case is expected later this summer.
At night, there is still the cha-cha. Ms. Wong has a new instructor, whom
she is paying, according to statements in court, $21,000 a month.
Date: Sat, 5 Aug 2006 01:12:17 +0900
From: "astrid" <astrid@ruby.plala.or.jp>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Wall St Jrnl: Banker Now Regards $15.4 Million
Lessons Asa Serious Misstep
To: "Nitin Kibe" <nitinkibe@hotmail.com>, <tango-l@mit.edu>,
<TANGO-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
> PS: I am still not sure whether the numbers in the article are in HK$ (8
HK$
> = 1 US$) or US$, but the WSJ normally qualifies $ if it is not US$. In
any
> case, it's still large numbers.
>
> Two years ago, Ms. Wong agreed to pay $15.4 million for eight years of
> unlimited Latin-dance instruction. About half of that sum she paid up
front,
> in cash. The 61-year-old widow recently said she was "looking for the last
> bit of glory in life."
>
Ok, I checked: one million HK dollars is about 128.600 US$.If that cheap
instructor charges a mere 70$ an hours, that would be indeed only 9US$.
To put this into perspective:
from an article in the Japan Times, July 2:
interview with Tamiyo Kusakari, the famous ballerina who starred in "Shall
we dance", and whose role was later taken by Jennifer Lopez in a remake:
"I think, Tokyo women are among the most self aware and hard working in the
world. They push themselves so hard,and the objective is often less about
stress-allviation than self-improvement. In that sense, ballet or dancing
may be ideal, because everyone is forced to confront themselves in
floor-to-ceiling mirrors all the time."
Well, great. There goes the image of the humble Japanese with the modest,
demure manners, and out comes the real thing: grit-teeth competition, all in
order to impress the people around you, and, for women, usually limited to
the external...
Not so different from Hong Kong, is it?
Now, let's have a look at the prices:
one privada with a stage dancer from BA: 14.000 Yen for 50-60 minutes.
I once had a well known dancer from BA trying to charge me 26000 yen for a
lesson for one couple. "It's a good deal, because you actually save 2000
Yen, since there are two of you and I am not taking the double price." Yeah,
sure, I thought, waited for my teacher to arrive and make the gold digger
come to his senses.
A "tango party" arranged by Japanese tango teachers, with the same two tired
Japanese ex-ballroom dance couples performing their usual tango vals, maybe
a guest dancer from BA and half a glass of cheap wine in a paper cup with
potato chips: a flat 6000 Yen. Sometimes 10.000 Yen.
Compared to that, milongas with Argentines are cheap: only 2500 Yen incl. a
whole glass of wine in a glass or any other drink.
Then there are the infamous "happyokai": Japanese are willing to pay to have
people watch them perform their half baked amateur stage act in front of
everybody. I was once told by a woman, that she dished out 600.000 Yen, for
having a choreo made for her, private lessons with a tango teacher to learn
it, rehearsals, a costume, and buying up 10 tickets or more to "sell" to
friends who are willing to watch her dance. (of course, most people won't
come unless they are given the ticket for free)
When they started rehearsing, she said, she was horrified when she saw the
stage show the studio owner had planned, and even more so when she saw it
performed. But she could not go back and had to go through with it ! Told
me, she will never do that again.
Then there are the "guided tours to BsAs", which will set you back a mere
440.000 Yen for a week or two, incl. airfare, hotel, milongas and privadas
in BA (at Japanese prices of course, the difference is pocketed by the
Japanese teacher who arranged it.)
Or the glitzy "Spend the millenium cruising around the South pole leaving
from Fireland, Argentina": one million yen only.
Still, dancing is hot in Japan, as you can see in the article below:
https://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fs20060801a4.html
but as far as I am concerned, I mainly stick to the cheaper practicas and
milongas, where I get to dance with all the teachers and everyone else too,
and maybe even have an occasional chat with Guillermo Merlo or someone
similar who is munching on the empanadas made especially for him that night
at the special reserved table by the bar.
Astrid, Tokyo
Date: Sat, 5 Aug 2006 01:12:17 +0900
From: "astrid" <astrid@ruby.plala.or.jp>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Wall St Jrnl: Banker Now Regards $15.4 Million
Lessons Asa Serious Misstep
To: "Nitin Kibe" <nitinkibe@hotmail.com>, <tango-l@mit.edu>,
<TANGO-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
> PS: I am still not sure whether the numbers in the article are in HK$ (8
HK$
> = 1 US$) or US$, but the WSJ normally qualifies $ if it is not US$. In
any
> case, it's still large numbers.
>
> Two years ago, Ms. Wong agreed to pay $15.4 million for eight years of
> unlimited Latin-dance instruction. About half of that sum she paid up
front,
> in cash. The 61-year-old widow recently said she was "looking for the last
> bit of glory in life."
>
Ok, I checked: one million HK dollars is about 128.600 US$.If that cheap
instructor charges a mere 70$ an hours, that would be indeed only 9US$.
To put this into perspective:
from an article in the Japan Times, July 2:
interview with Tamiyo Kusakari, the famous ballerina who starred in "Shall
we dance", and whose role was later taken by Jennifer Lopez in a remake:
"I think, Tokyo women are among the most self aware and hard working in the
world. They push themselves so hard,and the objective is often less about
stress-allviation than self-improvement. In that sense, ballet or dancing
may be ideal, because everyone is forced to confront themselves in
floor-to-ceiling mirrors all the time."
Well, great. There goes the image of the humble Japanese with the modest,
demure manners, and out comes the real thing: grit-teeth competition, all in
order to impress the people around you, and, for women, usually limited to
the external...
Not so different from Hong Kong, is it?
Now, let's have a look at the prices:
one privada with a stage dancer from BA: 14.000 Yen for 50-60 minutes.
I once had a well known dancer from BA trying to charge me 26000 yen for a
lesson for one couple. "It's a good deal, because you actually save 2000
Yen, since there are two of you and I am not taking the double price." Yeah,
sure, I thought, waited for my teacher to arrive and make the gold digger
come to his senses.
A "tango party" arranged by Japanese tango teachers, with the same two tired
Japanese ex-ballroom dance couples performing their usual tango vals, maybe
a guest dancer from BA and half a glass of cheap wine in a paper cup with
potato chips: a flat 6000 Yen. Sometimes 10.000 Yen.
Compared to that, milongas with Argentines are cheap: only 2500 Yen incl. a
whole glass of wine in a glass or any other drink.
Then there are the infamous "happyokai": Japanese are willing to pay to have
people watch them perform their half baked amateur stage act in front of
everybody. I was once told by a woman, that she dished out 600.000 Yen, for
having a choreo made for her, private lessons with a tango teacher to learn
it, rehearsals, a costume, and buying up 10 tickets or more to "sell" to
friends who are willing to watch her dance. (of course, most people won't
come unless they are given the ticket for free)
When they started rehearsing, she said, she was horrified when she saw the
stage show the studio owner had planned, and even more so when she saw it
performed. But she could not go back and had to go through with it ! Told
me, she will never do that again.
Then there are the "guided tours to BsAs", which will set you back a mere
440.000 Yen for a week or two, incl. airfare, hotel, milongas and privadas
in BA (at Japanese prices of course, the difference is pocketed by the
Japanese teacher who arranged it.)
Or the glitzy "Spend the millenium cruising around the South pole leaving
from Fireland, Argentina": one million yen only.
Still, dancing is hot in Japan, as you can see in the article below:
https://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fs20060801a4.html
but as far as I am concerned, I mainly stick to the cheaper practicas and
milongas, where I get to dance with all the teachers and everyone else too,
and maybe even have an occasional chat with Guillermo Merlo or someone
similar who is munching on the empanadas made especially for him that night
at the special reserved table by the bar.
Astrid, Tokyo
Date: Sat, 05 Aug 2006 10:44:49 +0800
From: Kace <kace@pacific.net.sg>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Wall St Jrnl: Banker Now Regards $15.4 Million
Lessons As a Serious Misstep
To: tango-l@mit.edu
Cc: Nitin Kibe <nitinkibe@hotmail.com>
Stories like this often give people from the West the idea that Asians
are filthy rich
and can afford to spend at crazy prices...
But the fact is that most of Asia is not rich. The financial crisis a
few years ago
knocked down many middle-income families, and wages have yet to recover.
The main reason why Asians appear to have more disposable income is that
the cost of living (basic food, fuel, clothes) and taxes and insurance are
under control.
Ironically, the super-rich appear to not be affected by the economy.
Maybe they
live in an alternate economy, or maybe they are earn their money from
the West
while living in the East. Who knows?
We often have to rein in the expectation of foreign instructors who come to
Asia to teach, after they have been suggested to visit by people they met.
- Those who cater to teaching the rich tatler set focus on private
lessons,
debutante balls, pro-am vanity performances, and accompanying them to
holiday in Buenos Aires.
- Those who cater to the "man-in-the-street" concentrate on group classes
and organising milongas in cheap bars.
Only one of these is the real tango community -- but professionals go to
where the money is.
Constantly we have to try to find ways to distort the natural laws of
economics --- but that is a challenge that only local instructors will meet.
Kace
tangosingapore
Nitin Kibe wrote:
> More on the Hong Kong banker and her instructors, lessons, fees, etc etc on
> Thursday's Wall Street Journal front page, the daily "human interest" story.
> Included is a little aside from a HK AT teacher who charges a mere $70 per
> hour.
>
> Best to all.
>
> NK
>
> Wash DC
>
> PS: I am still not sure whether the numbers in the article are in HK$ (8 HK$
> = 1 US$) or US$, but the WSJ normally qualifies $ if it is not US$. In any
> case, it's still large numbers.
>
> ******************
>
> Banker Now Regards $15.4 Million Lessons As a Serious Misstep --- Ms. Wong
> Sues Dance Coach Who Called Her 'a Cow'; Pursuit of Ballroom Glory
>
> By Kate Linebaugh
> 1247 words
> 3 August 2006
> The Wall Street Journal
> A1
> English
> (Copyright (c) 2006, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
> HONG KONG -- As the top Asia private banker for HSBC Holdings PLC, Mimi
> Monica Wong knows how to make wealth last. But these days, she is better
> known for the millions she lost perfecting her rumba.
>
> Two years ago, Ms. Wong agreed to pay $15.4 million for eight years of
> unlimited Latin-dance instruction. About half of that sum she paid up front,
> in cash. The 61-year-old widow recently said she was "looking for the last
> bit of glory in life."
>
> But the arrangement soured even before it took effect. Now Ms. Wong is suing
> her dance instructors in a Hong Kong court seeking the return of her $8
> million pre-payment. The instructors, 15-time world Latin dance champion
> Gaynor Fairweather, of the U.K., and her Italian husband Mirko Saccani, are
> countersuing for the $7.4 million outstanding under the agreement.
>
> Hong Kong has no shortage of big spenders. Home to some of Asia's great
> fortunes, the city of about seven million boasts the most Rolls-Royces per
> capita in the world. Yet even here, the equivalent of $5,000 a day for eight
> years is a lot to pay for dance lessons.
>
> "It's just ridiculous," says Keith McNab, an Argentine tango instructor in
> Hong Kong who charges about $70 an hour. "No one could actually take enough
> lessons to make it worth it."
>
> In a letter to a local newspaper, a Hong Kong civil servant said such sums
> could inspire a career change. "Ladies, I am now available to give dancing
> lessons," wrote John Shanahan, a senior officer at the city's anticorruption
> watchdog. "Payments are accepted in advance. Pole dancing costs extra."
>
> But for many women in high-society Hong Kong, dancing is serious business.
> At glitzy charity balls, Chinese tycoons sometimes turn into wallflowers as
> their wives dip and twirl in the arms of a paid partner -- often a younger
> Western man. Among this crowd, it's not uncommon to fork over $500 for an
> afternoon social event called a "tea dance."
>
> Hong Kong has "some of the craziest prices in the world," says Walter Wat,
> president of the Hong Kong Ballroom Dancing Council.
>
> The sums approach the stratosphere when a dancer hits the international
> "pro-am" circuit, where aspiring amateur dancers, mostly female, take part
> in competitions with professional partners. Daily lessons are necessary to
> master the five dances that make up competitive Latin ballroom -- cha-cha,
> rumba, samba, jive and paso doble. There are also travel expenses, entry
> fees and the cost of costumes for two.
>
> It was this kind of dancing that grabbed Ms. Wong. She rose to the top, just
> as she had in private banking, and she loved it. "It's like, you know,
> winning Wimbledon," she said in a recorded conversation with a friend that
> was referred to in court. Ms. Wong, Ms. Fairweather and Mr. Saccani all
> declined to comment for this article.
>
> Off the dance floor, Ms. Wong has an impressive resume. A graduate of
> Columbia University, she worked her way up HSBC, the world's biggest bank by
> assets, to become head of its private banking business in Asia. The daughter
> of a Hong Kong shipping magnate, Ms. Wong is known for her composure,
> elegance and perfectionism at any cost.
>
> In 2000, Ms. Wong began taking lessons from Ms. Fairweather, who ruled the
> Latin dance world for 15 years with her then-partner Donnie Burns. The pair
> is credited with injecting a new flair to the form, and for slowing down the
> samba to allow for more swagger, according to Hong Kong dance teachers. For
> their service to dance, each was awarded an Order of the British Empire, a
> lesser honor than knighthood.
>
> Under Ms. Fairweather's tutelage, Ms. Wong increasingly devoted herself to
> dancing. Often she would dash away from work at lunch for two hours of
> lessons, only to put in two more at the end of the day, according to
> statements made in court. Ms. Fairweather would labor over her student's
> dress designs, drawing floral patterns and hiring seamstresses to affix
> hundreds of Swarovski crystal beads, she testified in court. "To me, she was
> everything," the 49-year-old Ms. Fairweather told the court.
>
> After two years of instruction with just Ms. Fairweather, Mr. Saccani became
> part of the package. According to court statements, Mr. Saccani instigated
> longer-term contracts with Ms. Wong for greater and greater sums, paid well
> in advance. After he began instructing Ms. Wong, according to court
> testimony, he bought a Ferrari.
>
> In 2002, Ms. Wong paid $135,000 for a fixed number of lessons and
> competitions. Shortly afterward, she shelled out $1.3 million for a two-year
> package of unlimited lessons until 2004.
>
> The work paid off. With Mr. Saccani as her partner at the 2003 Emerald Ball
> Dancesport Championships in Los Angeles, Ms. Wong won the title of "Top Gold
> Lady."
>
> On top of what she had spent already, Ms. Wong then agreed to pay $15.4
> million over eight years for exclusive access to Ms. Fairweather's and Mr.
> Saccani's services.
>
> Ms. Wong swallowed the high prices because "she was desperate to continue
> and could not bear to throw away all her hard work," according to her
> closing statement to the court.
>
> What upended the multimillion-dollar dance partnership was an incident on a
> Wednesday afternoon in August of 2004. At the Li Hua restaurant, a favorite
> afternoon dance venue, Ms. Wong and a group of other women were taking part
> in a mock competition.
>
> That day, the banker was heavier in her step than usual, according to
> statements in court. In front of fellow dancers, Mr. Saccani shouted at her
> to "move your arse," and called Ms. Wong a "lazy cow," according to court
> documents.
>
> Other dance teachers testified his verbal abuse contained threats of
> physical violence. Instructor Philip Redmond told the court he heard Mr.
> Saccani say, "If you do it again, Monica, I'll smash your head against the
> wall." Mr. Saccani denies having said anything beyond some "motivational"
> language, though he admits to shouting expletives at her.
>
> Two days later, she cut short another practice session. That night, in the
> taped conversation submitted to the court, she told a friend that the money
> involved was "stupid," "crazy" and "completely out of hand." The two sides
> fell out further over the following days and Ms. Wong quickly won a court
> order to freeze the bank accounts of her instructors.
>
> Ms. Fairweather and Mr. Saccani say they remain ready to fulfill the terms
> of the contract. "It's not fair to have such love and work put into a person
> and one day she's not there," Ms. Fairweather told the court.
>
> The publicity around Ms. Wong's case hasn't been good for a private banker,
> a job that prizes discretion, other bankers say. However, HSBC stands behind
> its banker, and after a brief leave of absence to attend the two-week
> hearing, she is back at work helping Asia's wealthy plan their financial
> future. A judgment in the court case is expected later this summer.
>
> At night, there is still the cha-cha. Ms. Wong has a new instructor, whom
> she is paying, according to statements in court, $21,000 a month.
>
>
>
>
Date: Sat, 5 Aug 2006 12:08:14 +0900
From: "astrid" <astrid@ruby.plala.or.jp>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Wall St Jrnl: Banker Now Regards $15.4 Million
Lessons As a Serious Misstep
To: "Kace" <kace@pacific.net.sg>, <tango-l@mit.edu>
> But the fact is that most of Asia is not rich. The financial crisis a
> few years ago
> knocked down many middle-income families, and wages have yet to recover.
Yes.
> The main reason why Asians appear to have more disposable income is that
> the cost of living (basic food, fuel, clothes) and taxes and insurance are
> under control.
>
Speak for your country, Kace, not for the whole continent.
>We often have to rein in the expectation of foreign instructors who come to
Asia to teach, after they have been suggested to visit by people they met.
Argh. Recently, a very sophisticated lady here, who owns her own small
company and makes frequent trips to BA to dance tango, told her close
friends that she felt rather fed up with a certain star dancer from BA who
keeps coming to teach lessons here. Even though she likes him as a teacher,
and even provided her office space for some of his lessons, she did not
approve of the fact that apart from charging high prices for his classes,
the man has turned out to be a total freeloader. He saves all his money that
he makes here, and has people take him out to dinner all the time. Every
time she goes with him to a cafe, he expects her to pay.
Unfortunately, he gets away with, because there are always a few people
around who take pride in being able to cater to the tastes of someone like
that.
Another star dancer went to Nagoya instead, because people like to show off
their prosperity even more than in Tokyo. Once a friend in Tokyo was visited
by his hosting couple. She had offered to put him up in her large studio
apartment with a harbour view in return for free lessons, when he came to
teach in Tokyo. The couple came to check out her place, making inquiries as
though they were bringing in royalty, and gave her the feeling that nothing
was good enough for this star from Argentina. She found the experience
utterly embarrasing and disgraceful, and finally the couple left, wife's
mink trailing, without accepting her offer.
As long as there are people like that around, the guests from BA may be able
to retain their impression that Japan is a goldmine, but these snobs are
certainly not representative of the country as a whole. And they are making
life hard for the rest of us who really want to learn dancing and not just
show off.
Astrid
