An Interview

Q: Do you often write letters?
A: Yes, I have always enjoyed writing messages. Writing letters is something of nostalgia, as people nowadays tend to keep contact via emails instead. It actually feels quite nice writing on postcards…

Q: Do you write to your wife?
A: Yes, such as when writing her a note of a line or two to be sent with a present for her… But she writes me more often than I do to her. (smile) She writes me messages full of her feeling for me…

Q: What is your plan for this Christmas?
A: This Christmas? 22 December is our marriage anniversary, and that is only a few days before the Christmas day. We may celebrate two occasions at a time. As it is our first anniversary, I have got a feeling that it is going to be a very unusual Christmas.

Q: Who are you going to write your letter to this time?
A: It is for someone with whom I worked with on stage before. As an artist, I hold deep respect for him. But, sadly, I will never get to see him again. Therefore, I hope very much to take this opportunity to express my special feeling of missing him. Here I would like to dedicate this letter to Mr. Leslie Cheung.

Q: What kind of person Leslie was like to you?
A: The first time I met him, I found him zestfully and vividly charismatic. Out of my instinct, I thought to myself I wanted to be an artist just like him. At this Christmas time, I hope to send him a message, one that is to hold the idea of a new world of entertainment created by both Leslie and me.

Q: What do letters mean to you?
A: Only people who get to meet by destiny can become each other’s pen pals. Letters bear the marks of time. In reading letters, I bring back to live past memories, making those much treasured moments feel seemingly all the more poignant.

A Letter to Leslie Cheung

Time flew past by. Along the tick tock sound from the clock of ‘The Chance Encounter’, time has left its marks in me. There the affecting is the grip of the precious past.

The flying time sees the memories of our encounter. Lying deep inside my mind, there are thoughts of those days, soothing and caressing me.

When I felt lost, I was offered guidance; for my performance efforts, I found his approving rewards of cheers and applause. An atmosphere of purity, exuding an air of elegance, fills the images in my memories with him. The time we spent together, the exchanges of ideas, exhilarated the creativity of our works of collaboration. In him, I could see the courage making him an arts performer.

In reality, not long ago, I met in a chance encounter a woman whom I love very much. We have just started our long journey together.

Leslie lived a life like a dream chaser. In my mind, the world of Leslie is fascinating like a dazzling performance stage. It is gleaming with radiance, even till these days.

The colorful Christmas tree decorations are just like trains for the dream chaser; they send the dreams up to the sky to be with the shining stars, and for us to look up to.

I wish for an inspirational world of performance. As a ballet dancer, I will not stop in my striving to be a dream maker for the people.

In the eyes of Leslie, I saw the sparking brilliance and genius of a fine artist. In the time and space which I shared with Leslie, I felt an aura of irreplaceable aesthetics, crystallizing. The crystal of his beauty is deeply etched in my heart.

At this moment, the Leslie's clock of 'The Chance Encounter' is ticking, counting down the day to a dream Christmas.

Leslie, wishing you a Merry Christmas!

For a glimpse of Mr. Nishijima, please visit http://event.jp.msn.com/xmas2009/letters/vol03.htm for the VIDEO on the above contents.

Mr. Nishijima is a renowned ballet dancer in Japan who appeared as guest dancer in Leslie’s MV for 'Dream of the Inner River'

many thanks to Kiva for the text and Keiko for the picture

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