Tekko 2019 : Wrap Up!

From Left to Right: Abracadabra, Ninjcole, Jump Ship, Meg, Alex Pinku (Me!) Galaxy Girl Paida, Julily, Samii, MilkyKitty, SonaDira Dance, Jenni Bon, Jenny Jenny, Hayley, Ari. Ki.

Over the weekend of April 12-14, I attended Tekko! Tekko is a Japanese culture convention in Pittsburgh, PA (my home town!). In fact, this signified the official 10th anniversary of me attending conventions, which is bonkers to me. 

But what a special weekend to commemorate this! Over the weekend, there was so much dance and music content, I couldn't even attend it all. I want to put a special shout out to Val and her team, who lead all the dance content. Her hard work is so inspiring. And a huge thank you to Tekko, for putting on these events! It means so much when a con is able to give us a space, when so many dismiss us. 

I did have the honor of performing in both the dance competition and the Tekko Idol Showcase.

On Friday was the dance showcase. You can see my performance here.
I ended up winning second place for solo entries. The girl who won first killed it and was doing crazy splits and bends, it was great to be able to be considered close to her in my performance. I got to surprise Ari.Ki by doing their choreography on stage which was definitely one of the highlights of my weekend.

Immediately after the competition, I changed into my Ran Mitake cosplay from Bang Dream, which I had the awesome opportunity to shoot with Tiffany from Misuchi photography! We’ve been friends for a long time, but I've always admired her photos, she has such a good eye.  You can check out the photos on both mine and her Instagram!

Saturday was the big day! Before the festival,  I got to shoot with MilkyKitty Photography! Her photos are an idols dream, for sure. The skirt I wore was made by Terumi of Teruvision / Danzoo Dash! Its a preview of a very special outfit she made for me that I can't wait to debut for you all. But for now this sneak peak.

photo by @milkykittyphotography on instagram

I didnt stop smiling the entire time of the idol festival.  Every single performer did so SO great! This was a first year event? Are we SURE? Several of my friends had their debut stage and I was so happy to get to share the stage with everyone. There was such a diverse representation of Jpop and the overseas idol community. From cool, to cute, to powerful and everything in between. I love seeing the diversity of this community so much. You can watch my full performance at the end of this post! (featuring a very, very special guest ;)

Tekko also had a Kpop showcase that I very much wanted to attend, but my energy (and legs) died out and I needed to rest. I heard that everyone did insanely good as well, so I'm sad I missed it. There’s always next year!!

It's so special to me that I got to perform in the city I grew up in, at a convention that has always been special to me. Tekko is still a smaller convention, but it never feels small. They always have good music and fashion guests, and are growing every year. 

Lately, I have been feeling like "Ah, I'm not very good compared to other performers in this community. I don't deserve to stand next to them." But I love doing it so much. And comparing my journey to others is unfair to myself. I'm determined to improve my skills to be happy with where I am.  And I’m glad that I get to share my growth as a performer with you. I’m not where I’d like to be yet, but I’m improving every day and that’s what matters to me. I’m always open to constructive comments and advice on how I can continue to make my performances a fun experience!

Until the next stage. 


Love & Stars, 
Alex