Spreading Good Cheer
Ahead of another session of Youth Cheer Dance classes, iNTOUCH visits the Club’s band of budding cheerleaders.
Five, six, seven, eight,” Iku Ejiri-Hori shouts above the pumping pop music, clapping her hands to the beat. As she begins to bounce on her tiptoes, five elementary school-age girls, adorned in white Club cheerleading outfits, leap in unison in front of her.
The cheerleaders, who seconds ago were horsing around, are now stone-faced models of concentration. They follow Ejiri-Hori’s every command.
“Jumping jacks,” she calls out. “Now walk in place. Hands on hips. One, two and clap.”
Students of this Friday afternoon Youth Cheer Dance class in The Studio learn cheerleading basics, including high kicks, leg holds and cross-floor combinations. They also perform at TAC Eagles basketball games.
“Cheer is such a global sport,” says Ejiri-Hori, who produced NFL’s preseason American Bowl games in Japan for many years. “I follow the same format as the American teams, so if students start now, they see a smooth transition if they want to continue doing cheer in their home country.”
Ejiri-Hori shows Riko Suzuki, the tallest member of the class, how to do turns, one of the more advanced skills. Suzuki, 10, says she joined the class last January to learn cheerleading in an English environment.
“I like dancing and learning techniques,” says Suzuki, who hasn’t missed a session. “It’s fun.”
Mai Takahashi’s 7-year-old daughter, Rio, joined the class last April after being inspired by the cheerleaders on her favorite television show, “Glee.”
“Actually, [the class] was one of the reasons we joined TAC,” says Mai. “[Ejiri-Hori] is an energetic teacher. She keeps discipline, without being too strict.”
Ejiri-Hori, 46, was mesmerized the first time she watched the Laker Girls cheerleading team perform at a Los Angeles Lakers basketball game.
“That struck me,” says the Yokohama native, who moved to the United States in 1981. “That’s what I want to be in the future. When I grow up, I want to be there.”
Ejiri-Hori joined a drill program in California and loved the camaraderie and team spirit. She later finished second in the Japan drill nationals with her Tokyo high school club squad.
She joined her Japanese college all-star team, performing as a competitive dancer and basketball and football cheerleader, and attended the United Spirit Association (USA) cheerleading camp in California during her summer breaks. Eventually, she joined the staff and later became a director.
“The USA camps were much more edgy, choreographywise. …It was a transitional time, and I found it really fun,” she says.
In 1994, Ejiri-Hori, then 24, found out that Laker Girl auditions were being held in the same city as her camp. She tried out and made it to the third round of 50 candidates from an initial field of 600.
“It was really fun,” she says. “I didn’t have a perfect audition outfit. I came from the camp, so I had these little bike shorts and, instead of my sports bra, I wore my bikini.”
She returned to Tokyo to help United Spirit Association Japan and became a cheer coach for college and professional sports teams. She also opened her own studio, which today boasts almost 100 students, ranging in age from 4 to 44. She started coaching at the Club three years ago.
“Cheer is something where girls can be more active, vocal, positive,” says Ejiri-Hori. “It’s a smile sport. You have to smile. I like that.”
Near the end of the Friday class, Ejiri-Hori plays the first few bars of the Afrojack hit “Summer Thing.” Directing the girls to raise their arms in the air, she counts off and they run through the routine. When the music stops, the girls drop to the floor in fits of laughter.
“That was good for the first time,” says Ejiri-Hori. “Two more times, then we can go home.”
The next session of Youth Cheer Dance begins October 30.
Words: Nick Narigon
Photo: Steve Morin
