Mark Kanemura dishes on Sasha Colby, the pros and cons of Virgos, and the best dance video of all time
Find out which pop star viral dance sensation Mark Kanemura calls "one of the most gracious, generous, and wonderful artists and human beings."
Meet the man behind the dance moves.
Chances are, you’ve seen Mark Kanemura shake his groove thing—whether as finalist on season four of So You Think You Can Dance, in countless viral social media posts, or alongside world famous pop stars like Janet Jackson, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Carly Rae Jepsen (both on tour and in their music videos).
But earlier this year, Kanemura took a break from the choreo to create his first-ever picture book, I Am A Rainbow!, a youth-focused story of self-love and shining brightly. It was inspired by his own childhood in Honolulu, Hawaii, and features illustrations from Richard Merritt that are just as colorful and eye-catching as Kanemura’s popular dance videos.
In celebration of I Am A Rainbow!‘s release earlier this summer, we invited the dancer-turned-author to be the latest guest in our rapid-fire Q&A series, Dishin’ It. In our conversation, Kanemura touches on the musical that “blew [his] mind and heart wide open,” what makes him most proud to be Hawaiian, and the super famous pop star who surpassed all his expectations.
Is there a piece of media—whether a movie, TV series, book, album, games, etc…—that you consider a big part of your own coming-out journey, or that has played an important part in exploring your own queerness? Why does it stand out to you?
The Phantom Of The Opera was something that completely changed my world and my trajectory as a child. My parents took me to see the touring production when it came to Hawaii. I think I was 10. It completely blew my brain and heart wide open. The singing, the dancing, the acting, the costumes, the lights, the sets, THE PRODUCTION! I was SHOOOOOK!
I knew immediately that I wanted to be involved in this world somehow. My parents saw my very obvious interest and put me in some drama and musical theater classes at the local theater. That led me into dance which led me into my career as a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Being involved in theater and dance helped me to explore my creativity and helped me to feel more comfortable and confident in who I was. It helped nurture and support that queer, creative side of myself and gave me a sense of belonging and acceptance!
Your new book, I Am A Rainbow!, is aimed at younger readers, but what do you hope an older audience might get out of it—whether or not they have kids of their own?
You know, when I was writing I Am A Rainbow!, I was obviously very mindful of children but also VERY mindful of our inner child! I wanted to write a book that spoke to and celebrated children AND the inner child within all of us!
The opportunity to write this book came from a lot what I was creating and sharing on the internet. All of those videos were VERY much a part of this beautiful journey of getting back in touch with my inner child and allowing him the space, freedom, encouragement, and support to explore and express himself in ways that he was always wanted to! I hope that adults are reminded to care for, accept, support and celebrate the children around us but also the child within us who maybe didn’t receive that acceptance, love and support that we deserved and needed when we were kids!
Your career—and especially your dancing—has taken you all sorts of places and you’ve worked with so many amazing, talented people. With that in mind, which celebrity that you’ve worked or interacted with surprised you the most and why?
To this day, Janet Jackson has been an artist that I have worked for that has made such an impact and impression on me. I grew up listening to Janet, dancing to her music, watching her music videos, and having dreams of dancing with her one day. She has been such an inspiration and is such an icon and a legend. When I had the opportunity to work with her I was completely amazed and surprised at how she treated all of us. I really appreciated and admired her thoughtfulness and how she cared for all of us. To this day, she is one of the most gracious, generous, and wonderful artists and human beings I’ve had the pleasure of working with.
You’ve previously spoken about how you were inspired to get into dance at a young age by watching videos, so—no pressure—what’s the best dance music video of all time and why?
Woof! What a question!!! I don’t know that I have one in particular but I will say, Janet has some of THE MOST iconic dance music videos EVER! With videos like “If” and “Rhythm Nation”… come on now! Who doesn’t know or recognize that choreography right away??
Between the dancing and the lip-syncing and the wigs—so many wigs!—I think it’s fair to say your videos are heavily inspired by the art of drag, too. What’s an important lesson you’ve learned from drag performers that has come in handy in your day-to-day life?
Oh, very much so! There has always been this bravery, courage, and confidence that I’ve admired and appreciated so much in drag queens that I try to apply to my day to day life. I can be a bit shy and a bit of an introvert so I try and tap into those “superpowers” of bravery, courage, and confidence when I’m performing or just trying to live my life out in the world.
What makes you most proud about your home state, Hawaii?
I feel most proud about the Aloha spirit people of Hawaii embody and share with each other and the world. There is a power and beauty in the gentleness, the generosity, the love and care, and the groundedness that people from Hawaii are brought up with and have within them.
Speaking of pride, you’re a proud Virgo. In your opinion, what makes a Virgo an ideal partner? And what makes them a difficult partner?
I am a proud Virgo! How can you not be proud when you share a sign with Beyoncé?
As a partner, I can be very thoughtful, generous, and detail oriented. Those things are present in the way I care for my partner and spend time with them, in things I plan, gifts I give, and overall the way I show up in a relationship.
I feel like the difficulties of being with a Virgo is that we are very particular and like things done a certain way. We can also be perfectionists and in the same way that we expect a lot from ourselves and hold ourselves to a high standard, we can sometimes have those same very high expectations and standards for our partners as well.
Who is a queer or trans artist/performer/creator that you think is doing really cool work right now? Why are they someone we should all be paying attention to?
Sasha mother-effing Colby! PERIOD!
It has been so wonderful seeing Sasha’s journey. We grew up dancing together in Hawaii and to see her getting all the flowers she deserves has filled my heart with so much happiness and joy! She recently won RuPaul’s Drag Race and is the first Polynesian winner! She has been doing such an incredible job of using her platform to be an important voice and advocate for the trans and drag community.
She has also been uplifting the Polynesian queer community and educating the world on mahu and the queer history of Hawaii which has been so cool to see. On top of being a wonderful person, she is an INCREDIBLE artist and performer. If you have not seen her perform live, it is an EXPERIENCE!!!!
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