Nanda will perform its last local show (for a while) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28 at Chimacum High School auditorium. After that, the group is moving to Portland, Ore., to develop a full-length show suitable for a national tour. – Submitted photos
The young men of Nanda - Tomoki Sage, 22; Kiyota Sage, 24; Misha Fradin, 23; and Chen Pollina, 21 - are splitsville. Oh, they are still a solid act bonded by friendship first and artistry second; it's just time, they say, to move down the road to Portland, Ore. Once there, they will concentrate on developing a feature-length show filled with "acrobaticalism," or, rather, their trademark juggling, dancing, acrobatics, stage fighting, music and comedy.
Why Portland? Circus acts are big in Portland right now, they say. And there's a huge Port Townsend-Portland connection, says Nanda's manager Danny Milholland, 22, one of many 20-somethings who, like Nanda and himself, have all grown up here and targeted Portland as an apt locale to follow their dreams.
The ultimate goal? "World domination" says one while the rest of them all laugh. "To make 'acrobaticalism' a household word," he continues. More laughter. "To get 'acrobaticalism' into Webster's dictionary ..."
Then, Tomoki becomes reflective and says, "To take it as far as it can go in the healthiest way possible."
Stars of Tomorrow
Nanda didn't begin; it evolved. Both Tomoki and Misha began juggling while in grade school. Chen started throwing the pins when he was 10. A couple of years ago, when the act began to take its present shape, Kiyota was motivated to learn out of necessity, since part of their act includes the four of them juggling pins back and forth among them while two of them stand on the shoulders of the two standing on the stage.
Although he'd been going to circus camp for years, during high school Misha Fradin came to local magician and vaudevillian Joey Pipia and asked him to be his mentor as part of the ICE educational program. Pipia agreed, and Misha and Tomoki met him on Tuesday afternoons. During that time they created their five-minute act for the 2001 Kiwanis Stars of Tomorrow show.
"Every little thing that they get is because they worked at it. That's always the thing that impresses me about them," says Pipia.
The work paid off, and the boys took home first place in the contest's Senior Division.
In the audience that night was Erin O'Meara Little, daughter of Joan O'Meara, the owner of Port Townsend's Dance Studio. Little was so impressed she immediately caught her mother's ear, saying, "Mom, you've got to see these guys!"
"They were doing what they do now but not as elaborate," recalls O'Meara, who also said that despite their young age, the boys had natural stage charisma. O'Meara was charmed enough to offer Tomoki and Misha dance scholarships. They were later joined by Kiyota in tap, jazz, partnering and ballet.
After that, Misha went away to college at Evergreen State in Olympia. But distance didn't deter them. Kiyota and Tomoki regularly traveled to Olympia for practice sessions, keeping the drive to perform alive. Around this time, Chen, whom the group credits as the most consistent source of outrageous comedy and ideas, came aboard to write scripts as well as perform.
Kiyota and Tomoki also continued to work together as a duo. Still with O'Meara's Dance Studio, in 2004 they went to the annual Hollywood Vibe competition in California where they "just blew the judges away," received the highest honor, a platinum trophy, and were the judges' pick to perform at Disneyland.
To raise money for their trip, the boys presented their first show as Nanda called "Once Upon a Time in PTown" at Port Townsend High School. Its warm welcome by the community "sparked us to continue," they say.
Chautauqua and corporate shows
After that, the airborne balls, slo-mo dance and faux-fighting continued. Nanda has performed at the Oregon Country Fair and the Seattle Moisture Festival every year since 2005. Another self-produced show, called "Nandaland," was presented in Port Townsend in 2006. Corporate shows have included Microsoft, the Seattle Opera House, and the Space Needle New Year's Eve party.
Last year, Nanda performed at Chimacum High School for a benefit for the New Old Time Chautauqua, a vaudeville show designed to lift spirits and build community that has performed for Katrina victims and in other disadvantaged locales. Also performing at that benefit were the Flying Karamazov Brothers, nationally known juggling performers that many hold Nanda up to for comparison. During the show, when the Karamazov Brothers dropped their pins, one of the brothers remarked, "Nanda would never do that!"
Consensus
But it wasn't the skill or technique Nanda found most difficult. For them, the hardest thing to learn was cooperation and sharing.
"All of the technical and skill things don't amount to much when it come to life in general," observes Tomoki.
Rather than let disagreements destroy them, the guys relied on consensus training by Helen Kolff to keep their years of friendship intact as they kept moving forward. Everything the group does is done democratically, which can make for some long nights and interesting discussions. Even skit titles such as "Indiana Jones Super Spy" or "The Jacket Fight" must be agreed upon.
They all speak with reverence about the stage's magical quality, which never fails to squelch big and small squabbles once they begin to perform.
And it's healing too, they say.
"I've been sick during a performance and healthy afterward," says Kiyota.
I've had a broken leg and it was fixed! chimes in Chen.
"I was dead and came back to life!" finishes off Tomoki.
Gone but not forgotten
Far from being dead, as the guys pack their bags for Portland and head south, many well-wishers will await news that the world has discovered Nanda's talent.
"I think all four of them are extremely creative and they're very, very talented. They want to learn and have lots of curiosity," says O'Meara. "We just wish that they meet the right people and have their dream fulfilled."
Pipia agrees. "When they perform it's like the Beatles, and they're no longer just those four guys anymore."
Soon, the dreamed-of world tour will kick off. Groupies will follow. "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno will call.
And when that happens, the guys promise to never forget where they came from and eventually, if only temporarily, return.
"Growing up in a town where people are willing to keep their minds open" was a big influence on all of them, says Misha.
Port Townsend is a "magnetic place," says Danny.
"We'll always be from Port Townsend," affirms Tomoki.
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