Akira Chiwaki Memorial – Sunday April 13
I’m writing with some sad news. Akira Chiwaki, a local swing dancer, died last week. Akira had been dancing swing since 1999 and went out to various venues on a regular basis.
There will be a memorial service on Sunday, April 13 from 2-3pm
Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley
1 Lawson Rd, Kensington, CA 94707
in the Sanctuary
Also, I’m collecting remembrances of Akira from dancers to give to his family. If you knew him, please take a moment to write something you appreciated about him, or maybe a memory/story you have of him.
Please send your appreciations/remembrances to Brandee@CuriosityInMotion.com by Friday April 11th.
Do spread the word to any other dancers who may have known and enjoyed dancing with this sweet man.
We are genuinely broken hearted to hear this news. Akira and Diana attended our wedding and shared a lovely day with us! Every time a picture comes up of Akira with that beaming smile, I hear his laugh, and I wish I had stayed in touch more!! He was always so kind and warm, always in good spirits and ready to share a dance or a story. We will all miss him very much. Our sincere condolences to his family and Diana. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Colleen and Simon Planting
Akira was a friend to me and so many.
He was very kind and genuine, which made it so easy to talk to him about anything. And so friendship easily formed. He liked to playfully chide me about the ‘woo-woo’ interests I had. I especially would like to tell him about the next esoteric workshop I was going to just to get our bantering going. We laughed a lot. He was also very gracious. I remember one year at the Gatsby, he danced a lot with my newbee friend who, at first, felt out of place. He made a lot of friends with whom he saw outside of dance, probably because we were all drawn to his lovely energy. I miss him a lot!!
We feel the loss completely.
When Akira heard I was moving to Bekeley, he offered to show me around and even bought me lunch, brought champagne to my house party, sent me flowers and a beautiful welcome card with a heartfelt hand written message in real ink. We walked, danced, dined, laughed and shared stories. He will be greatly missed in my world.
I’m so very sad to hear the news about Akira, and I’m sorry that I didn’t hear in time to attend his memorial. He was one of my favorite dance partners. I had tried to reach out to him, knowing that he was very lonely and sad, but he made it clear that he wanted time alone. Then he just disappeared. I hadn’t seen him in over a year. I will miss him very much.