Rinko Kikuchi and Josef Kubota Wladyka Bring Heart, Humor, and Rhythm to ‘Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!’
Some stories demand a little music and a whole lot of movement, much like Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! For filmmaker Josef Kubota Wladyka, the dance floor becomes a place where emotions can escape the limitations of language, cultural expectations can be left at the door, and the simple act of moving to a rhythm can reveal something extraordinary about the human experience. That infectious spirit is at the heart of Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, an unconventional, deeply personal film that blends the exuberance of ballroom dancing with an intimate exploration of identity, family, and the freedom that comes from letting yourself feel completely alive.
Starring Rinko Kikuchi as Haru, affectionately known as Ha-Chan, alongside You and Yoh Yoshida, the film invites audiences into the colorful and surprisingly expansive world of Japanese ballroom dancing. It is a world filled with elaborate choreography, passionate performers, unexpected cultural connections, and music that refuses to recognize geographical borders. Yet beneath the film’s lively exterior is a profoundly personal inspiration: Wladyka’s mother, an 82-year-old Japanese woman whose lifelong love of ballroom dancing helped shape both the film’s central character and its emotional identity.
For Wladyka, who has built a career moving between dramatically different genres and storytelling styles, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! represents more than another creative experiment. It is an opportunity to celebrate his mother’s extraordinary spirit, explore his own relationship with Japanese culture, and bring together the artistic influences and international experiences that have shaped his life. From the dance halls of Tokyo to the salsa clubs of Colombia, the filmmaker draws upon a remarkable collection of personal memories to create a story that feels simultaneously culturally specific and universally recognizable.
During an international press conference held September 14, Wladyka joined Kikuchi, You, and Yoshida to discuss the film’s origins, the demanding choreography, and the collaborative atmosphere that helped bring its characters to life. Their conversation revealed a production built around an unusual combination of personal history, cinematic inspiration, and a genuine love of dance, resulting in a film that celebrates not only the joy of movement but also the relationships and experiences that give that movement meaning.
[Warning: spoilers from Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! are below!]
A love letter to the woman who inspired it all
At the center of Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is a woman who has spent much of her life expressing herself through dance. While Haru is a fictional character, her personality, appearance, and passion for ballroom dancing are deeply connected to Wladyka’s mother, whose influence runs through the film.
The director explained that his Japanese mother raised him as a single parent, bringing up three sons while staying connected to her cultural background and maintaining a lifelong enthusiasm for cinema. Although Wladyka grew up in the United States rather than Japan, his mother’s experiences helped shape his understanding of Japanese identity and inspired his desire to make a film in the country.
Her love of ballroom dancing became an especially important starting point. Even at 82, she continues to dance, embracing an activity that has provided her with joy, purpose, and an outlet for self-expression throughout her life. Josef Kubota Wladyka was fascinated by how dance let her communicate aspects of her personality that might otherwise remain hidden beneath the expectations of everyday life.
For the filmmaker, that freedom mattered because he understood that his mother grew up in an environment where women felt considerable pressure to maintain a composed, carefully controlled public image. On the dance floor, however, those expectations could give way to passion, spontaneity, and emotional honesty.
Rather than approaching his mother’s life as the subject of a conventional biographical film, Wladyka used her personality and experiences to inspire a fictional character who embodies the same spirit of independence. He wanted Haru to feel vibrant and authentic, someone whose relationship with dance was not simply a hobby but an essential part of how she experienced the world.
Even the character’s distinctive appearance drew inspiration from his mother. The director explained that Haru’s curly perm hairstyle came directly from the look his mother has maintained for as long as he can remember. What might initially seem like an eccentric styling choice is actually a deeply personal detail, connecting the fictional character to the woman who inspired her. Those connections extended to the character’s mannerisms, personality, and physical expression, giving Kikuchi a rich foundation for developing her performance.
Rinko Kikuchi finds the spirit of Ha-Chan through dance
For Rinko Kikuchi, portraying Haru required more than learning choreography or adopting a distinctive appearance. Because the character was inspired by the director’s mother, the actress wanted to understand the emotional relationship between the woman and the activity that had become such an important part of her life.
Wladyka shared photographs and videos of his mother with Kikuchi, allowing the actress to observe the way she moved, expressed herself, and approached dancing. Those materials became essential to the preparation process, helping Kikuchi understand that Haru’s identity was inseparable from her physical relationship with music.
Rather than treating the dance sequences as isolated performances, Kikuchi wanted ballroom dancing to become something she could experience instinctively. She spent considerable time rehearsing, gradually developing the movements and techniques necessary to make Haru’s enthusiasm feel natural rather than choreographed.
The actress explained that she needed to absorb the physical language of dance into her body, allowing it to influence the character’s everyday movements and emotional responses. That process involved repeatedly studying Wladyka’s mother, practicing choreography, and discussing the character’s personality with the director.
Her goal was to capture what she described as Ha-Chan’s essential spirit and strength, qualities that emerged not simply from the character’s enthusiasm for dancing but from her willingness to embrace life on her own terms.
Kikuchi also emphasized that Haru’s outgoing personality doesn’t necessarily reflect her own. While she found tremendous joy in portraying the character, she jokingly clarified that she is not quite as exuberant or uninhibited in her everyday life.
That distinction made the performance particularly interesting. Kikuchi was not simply playing a version of herself, but stepping into the world of a woman whose openness and confidence allowed her to express emotions with remarkable freedom. For the actress, the experience reinforced the idea that dance can become a form of storytelling in its own right, communicating feelings that might otherwise be difficult to articulate.
Building a film through the universal language of dance
Although ballroom dancing provides much of the film’s energy, bringing that world to the screen required extraordinary preparation. Josef Kubota Wladyka explained that the production worked closely with two choreographers in Japan, Miri and Chikako, whose different areas of expertise helped shape the film’s distinctive movement.
Miri brought extensive experience in professional ballroom dancing, providing the technical knowledge and connections necessary to portray the dance community authentically. Chikako, whose background was more closely tied to modern dance, brought a different perspective, helping the filmmakers explore how choreography could become part of the film’s imaginative storytelling. The collaboration allowed the director to balance the precision required by ballroom dancing with the expressive possibilities of cinema. Rather than simply filming technically accomplished dance routines, he wanted the movement to reveal character, emotion, and the relationships developing between performers.
That ambition created practical challenges. Ballroom dancing encompasses numerous styles, traditionally divided into Latin and standard categories, each with its own techniques, rhythms, and physical demands. Wladyka and his choreographers needed to decide which dances best served the story while staying realistic about the time available for preparation. The actors rehearsed for about four weeks, with Kikuchi beginning earlier because her character needed to perform more routines. The process required sustained physical commitment, particularly for performers who needed to make demanding choreography appear effortless.
For Kikuchi, those rehearsals became essential to developing Haru. The more comfortable she became with the movements, the more naturally she could express the character’s personality through them. The production also benefited from Alberto Guerra, who plays an international dance instructor. Wladyka had admired Guerra’s work for some time, particularly his performance in Griselda, and was introduced to him through filmmaker Andrés Baiz, a mutual connection from their television work.
Rather than approaching Guerra’s character as a conventional romantic or dance-film archetype, Josef Kubota Wladyka wanted to develop someone with greater individuality. He described working closely with the actor to build the character’s personality, letting Guerra’s ideas and instincts shape the performance. That collaborative approach extended into the dance sequences, where Guerra and Kikuchi worked together to create a convincing physical connection. The actress praised Guerra’s generosity and willingness to collaborate, describing their shared experience on the dance floor as particularly enjoyable. For the director, the process reflected his larger philosophy as a filmmaker. The screenplay establishes a character’s foundation, but the most interesting details often emerge when actors begin inhabiting their roles and contributing their own perspectives.
Tokyo’s ballroom dancing culture takes center stage in Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!
One of Wladyka’s primary ambitions was to introduce audiences to a side of Japan that international cinema does not always explore. Although ballroom dancing is frequently associated with European and Latin American traditions, it has an enthusiastic following in Japan, where dancers embrace styles ranging from elegant standard ballroom routines to passionate Latin rhythms. For the filmmaker, that cultural intersection offered an opportunity to challenge expectations about what Japanese stories should look and feel like.
Having spent significant time working in Japan before making the film, he developed a deep appreciation for the country’s diverse communities and the international influences that shape contemporary Tokyo. He observed that people from around the world have made the city their home, creating a cultural environment far more varied than the images frequently presented in films centered on foreign visitors.
Wladyka wanted Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! to reflect that diversity, bringing together Japanese performers and international characters in a setting where their cultural backgrounds could interact naturally. His own experiences provided an important foundation for that approach. In addition to his Japanese heritage, the filmmaker has spent considerable time working in Latin America, including shooting his first feature in Colombia. Those experiences introduced him to performers, music, and dance traditions that continued influencing his creative work. Bringing those worlds together in Tokyo felt like a natural extension of his personal history.
The production also had an unexpected connection to Japanese cinema history. Wladyka revealed that the ballroom used for the film’s opening dance sequence was the same location featured in Masayuki Suo’s celebrated film Shall We Dance?, a landmark work that helped introduce international audiences to Japan’s ballroom dancing culture. He noted filming in that space was particularly meaningful. It allowed his own project to acknowledge a beloved cinematic predecessor while exploring the dance community through a different creative perspective.
The filmmaker emphasized that he did not want to present ballroom dancing as an unusual cultural novelty. Instead, he hoped audiences would recognize how naturally music and movement cross geographical boundaries, creating communities united by shared enthusiasm rather than national identity.
When different cultures find the same rhythm
The film’s international spirit becomes especially apparent through its embrace of Latin music and dance, including salsa and bachata, traditions that have developed passionate audiences far beyond the countries where they originated. Wladyka’s interest in those connections began years earlier, when he was living in Cali, Colombia, while preparing his first film and studying Spanish. During his time there, he frequently visited salsa clubs, immersing himself in a musical culture that would leave a lasting impression.
One of his most memorable discoveries involved La Orquesta de la Luz, a Japanese salsa band that had developed an enthusiastic following in Latin America. He recalled hearing the group’s music in Colombian clubs and noticing that people would point toward him when their songs played. At the time, he did not fully understand the connection, but he later discovered the band was Japanese and had achieved considerable international recognition. The experience fascinated him. Here was a group of Japanese musicians performing a distinctly Latin musical style with enough authenticity and energy to captivate audiences thousands of miles from Japan.
That discovery remained with him, eventually becoming an important part of Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!. Wladyka explained that including La Orquesta de la Luz in the film had been a personal dream, and he credited a member of the production team, Mao, with helping make their appearance possible. The filmmaker was delighted that the musicians agreed to participate, allowing him to celebrate a cultural connection that had influenced him for years.
He also recalled a conversation with musician and actor Rubén Blades, with whom he had previously worked, about the extraordinary reaction La Orquesta de la Luz generated when performing for audiences unfamiliar with the idea of a Japanese salsa band. For Wladyka, the group’s success shows music’s remarkable ability to transcend expectations. What initially surprises an audience can quickly become something joyful and familiar when the performance itself creates a genuine emotional connection.
That same philosophy influenced the film’s use of bachata, another Latin dance tradition with an international following. Wladyka spoke enthusiastically about encountering bachata communities in places as varied as Japan, Greece, and Poland, recognizing that the music has become part of a global cultural conversation. He also cited Juan Luis Guerra’s song “Bachata en Fukuoka,” inspired by the Dominican musician’s experiences performing in Japan, as another example of the unexpected connections that emerge when different musical traditions meet.
For Wladyka, these influences were not simply decorative additions to the film. They reflected his belief that cultural exchange can create meaningful relationships between people who might otherwise appear to have little in common.
The Cranberries bring an unexpected emotional soundtrack
While Latin rhythms and ballroom traditions provide much of the film’s musical identity, one of its most distinctive creative choices involves the music of The Cranberries. Wladyka revealed that two key dance sequences feature songs by the Irish rock band, an intentional choice that emerged during the screenplay’s development. A self-described child of the 1990s, the director has long admired The Cranberries and their late lead singer, Dolores O’Riordan. But his decision to incorporate their music into the film was also influenced by the atmosphere he encountered while spending time in Japan.
The director explained that certain places in Japan can evoke the feeling of stepping into the late 1990s or early 2000s, an impression reinforced by the music playing in cafés and other public spaces. While writing the screenplay, he repeatedly heard songs by The Cranberries and gradually realized their emotional intensity complemented the story he was developing. The band’s music offered something different from the rhythms traditionally associated with ballroom dancing. O’Riordan’s distinctive voice and the songs’ emotional depth created a musical atmosphere that could reflect Haru’s inner experiences while allowing the dance sequences to move beyond conventional expectations.
Rather than treating the soundtrack as a collection of recognizable songs, Wladyka wanted the music to become part of the film’s emotional architecture. The director also pointed to the characters’ record collection as an expression of their personalities. The eclectic assortment of music suggests lives shaped by different influences, experiences, and relationships, reinforcing the idea that artistic identity rarely belongs to a single cultural category. Wladyka credited music supervisor Dina with helping secure the songs and bring the film’s ambitious musical vision to life. He expressed particular gratitude for the opportunity to incorporate The Cranberries, recognizing how important their sound had become to the film’s overall atmosphere. The result is a soundtrack that reflects the project’s unusual creative identity, moving between musical traditions while allowing each selection to contribute something distinctive to the storytelling.
A Sony Classic Pictures film inspired by cinema’s most memorable dance stories
Wladyka’s affection for cinema is evident throughout Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, which draws inspiration from a remarkably diverse collection of films. During the press conference, the director discussed how references to Dirty Dancing, All That Jazz, and Punch-Drunk Love helped establish the project’s creative atmosphere. Rather than imitating those films, he used them as inspiration for the emotional and stylistic possibilities of his own story. The filmmaker explained that he often shares reference films with department heads during production, encouraging collaborators to think creatively about tone, visual language, and storytelling.
For Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, those influences extended beyond traditional dance films. The director cited Claude Lelouch’s A Man and a Woman, one of his mother’s favorite movies, as an important emotional reference. He also acknowledged the influence of Shall We Dance?, whose celebration of ballroom dancing within Japanese society provided a natural point of connection. Perhaps more unexpectedly, he discussed Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers, a film whose intimate emotional atmosphere and supernatural elements influenced aspects of his own project.
That combination of inspirations reflects Wladyka’s willingness to move between genres and storytelling traditions without feeling constrained by conventional categories. He admitted that he is not entirely certain how to classify Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, and that uncertainty became part of the creative appeal. Rather than forcing the material into a predetermined genre, Wladyka and his collaborators remained open to discovering what the film needed to become as production progressed.
For the director, whose previous films differ considerably in tone and subject matter, the project offered another opportunity to experiment. He acknowledged that pursuing such different creative directions can make financing and developing independent films challenging, since each new project requires convincing collaborators and investors to embrace an unfamiliar vision. Yet he finds the process creatively rewarding, believing that moving between styles lets him keep developing his craft and discover new approaches to storytelling.
Three sisters and one extraordinary onscreen connection
Although Haru’s passion for dance provides much of the film’s energy, the relationships between its female characters are equally important to its emotional identity. Rinko Kikuchi stars alongside You and Yoh Yoshida, who portray Hiromi and Yuki, respectively, creating a trio of sisters whose interactions bring warmth, humor, and a lived-in familiarity to the story.
Wladyka explained that casting those roles required particular care. While many performers in the film were people he had worked with previously or already knew professionally, he did not have specific actors in mind for Yuki and Hiromi when the project began taking shape. Working with casting company KAIJU, he eventually approached You and Yoshida, two performers whose work he admired. Kikuchi also recommended them, reinforcing his confidence that the actresses could create the natural chemistry the screenplay required.
Once Wladyka saw their auditions and recognized the familiarity they already shared, he became convinced that the three performers could bring an authentic sense of sisterhood to the film. That instinct proved correct during production. You explained that although the actresses worked from an established screenplay, there was room to introduce playful variations, particularly when portraying Hiromi’s mischievous personality. She enjoyed leaning into the character’s sillier tendencies, occasionally improvising enough that the director would ask her to return to a more straightforward version of the scene.
Yoshida described the filming process as unusually natural, explaining that the actresses frequently spent time talking and enjoying one another’s company between takes. Those conversations often flowed seamlessly into the scenes themselves, allowing the characters’ relationships to emerge without feeling overly rehearsed. For Yoshida, the familiarity between the performers made it easy to capture the rhythms of sisters who have known one another for a lifetime.
Kikuchi was equally enthusiastic about the experience, describing You and Yoshida’s presence as reassuring throughout production. She wanted to work with both actresses and felt their existing connection created a comfortable environment where they could experiment and support one another. That trust became especially valuable because Haru’s personality is more uninhibited than Kikuchi’s. Working alongside performers she admired allowed her to embrace the character’s exuberance without feeling self-conscious.
The actresses also expressed their excitement about attending the Toronto Film Festival together, describing the experience as a continuation of the enjoyable atmosphere they had developed during filming. For Wladyka, their chemistry reinforced the importance of casting performers who could contribute something beyond their individual roles. The emotional authenticity of the sisters’ relationship became a foundation upon which the film’s more imaginative and energetic moments could flourish.
Dancing as an act of freedom
As the conversation turned to the cultural significance of dance, Wladyka and his cast reflected on why movement can offer such a powerful form of personal liberation. The director avoided sweeping generalizations about Japanese society, explaining that his understanding of dance’s emotional importance came mainly from observing his mother’s experiences. He recognized that she had grown up with certain expectations about how women should behave and present themselves, and he believed ballroom dancing offered her a space where those pressures could temporarily disappear.
On the dance floor, she could express passion, affection, confidence, and spontaneity without needing to explain or justify those emotions. That freedom became one of the film’s central ideas. Kikuchi expanded upon the concept, suggesting that dance is only one example of the liberation people can experience through artistic expression. Music, movement, and other creative activities allow individuals to step beyond ordinary expectations and explore parts of themselves that may not always fit into daily life.
She also emphasized that the appeal of international dance traditions involves more than simply learning unfamiliar movements. When people embrace tango, salsa, or other styles, they often become interested in the cultures and histories surrounding them, creating opportunities for greater understanding. For Kikuchi, Haru embodies that openness. Although dance gives her a particularly meaningful outlet, the character already has an independent spirit that shapes her approach to everyday life.
That sense of freedom gives the film its distinctive energy, allowing moments of humor and exuberance to exist alongside more introspective emotional experiences. The actresses also shared their own musical preferences, offering a playful glimpse into the personalities behind the performances. You enthusiastically declared that she would dance to practically any song, while Yoshida singled out ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” as a particular favorite.
Kikuchi admitted that Latin music has an almost automatic effect on her, explaining that the rhythms naturally make her want to move. Those lighthearted exchanges captured something essential about the production: the cast’s love of music and dance wasn’t limited to their professional responsibilities. They genuinely enjoyed sharing it.
A personal journey that crosses continents
For the director, the making of Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! also represents the culmination of a long-standing personal ambition. As an American filmmaker with Japanese heritage, he had dreamed of directing a feature in Japan, a country he felt deeply connected to, even though he didn’t grow up there. His experiences working in Latin America added another dimension to that ambition. Having built relationships with actors and filmmakers across countries, Wladyka wanted to bring those creative connections into a project that reflected the international influences shaping his identity.
Tokyo provided the ideal setting. Rather than portraying Japan through the perspective of an outsider encountering an unfamiliar culture, he wanted to create a story that acknowledged the diversity already present within the city. Latin music, international performers, and ballroom traditions became an expression of that reality. The filmmaker’s decision to include Alberto Guerra and La Orquesta de la Luz reflected the same desire to bring together people and traditions that had influenced him throughout his life.
Yet the film’s international scope never displaced its deeply personal origins. At its heart remained the image of Wladyka’s mother dancing, a woman whose enthusiasm and resilience had inspired him long before he began developing the screenplay. That personal connection gave the production an emotional purpose beyond its visual spectacle and musical energy. Every rehearsal, casting decision, and artistic reference became part of a larger effort to capture something of the woman who had shaped his life.
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is more than a dance film
By the conclusion of the press conference, it was clear that Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! had become something far more meaningful to its filmmaker and cast than a conventional story about ballroom dancing.
For Wladyka, the project is a tribute to his mother, a celebration of Japanese culture, and an expression of the international artistic influences that have shaped his career. For Kikuchi, it offered an opportunity to discover a character through physical movement, making dance an essential part of her performance rather than simply a skill required by the screenplay. For You and Yoshida, the film also offered a chance to explore the humor, warmth, and natural intimacy of sisterhood alongside performers with whom they shared genuine affection.
The film’s creative identity is equally distinctive. Its musical world moves between ballroom traditions, Latin rhythms, Japanese salsa, and the unmistakable emotional sound of The Cranberries. Its cinematic influences range from beloved dance films to intimate dramas and supernatural storytelling, creating an unusual combination of styles that reflects Wladyka’s determination to resist easy categorization.
Yet beneath that variety lies a remarkably consistent idea: music and movement can bring people together, even when their languages, backgrounds, and experiences differ. Dance becomes a space where cultural boundaries can soften, where emotional honesty can replace social expectations, and where people can discover new ways of understanding themselves and one another. For Haru, that freedom is not simply something she finds on the dance floor. It is part of how she approaches life, embracing her individuality with an enthusiasm that encourages those around her to do the same.
And for Wladyka, that spirit is inseparable from the woman who inspired the entire project. His mother may not have set out to inspire a feature film, but her lifelong passion for dancing gave her son something extraordinary: a reminder that joy, creativity, and self-expression don’t belong to any particular age, culture, or stage of life.
Sometimes, the most meaningful stories begin with something as simple as watching someone you love do what makes them happy. And sometimes, all it takes to remind us what it means to feel truly alive is a little music, a willing partner, and the courage to get up and dance.
For more information about Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, check out the Sony Pictures Classics website! Have you seen this film before? If so, what did you think? Share your thoughts on social media and tag @bsb.insider to keep the conversation going!
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