Rinko Kikuchi: 'Ha-Chan' Shows Healing Through Dance

Why a Thriller Filmmaker Made a Cross-Cultural Dancing Dramedy with 'Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!'

Josef Kubota Wladyka calls "Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!," inspired by his mother, "by far the most personal"

Rinko Kikuchi: 'Ha-Chan' shows healing through dance

Rinko Kikuchi discusses her dance movie "Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty," in theaters Friday, dance number by dance number as each one represented a stage.

'Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty' is a delightfully odd ode to the power of movement

In the opening sequence of Josef Kubota Wladyka’s “Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!” Haru (Rinko Kikuchi) tells her husband and dance partner, Luis (Alejandro Edda), that he’s pigeon-toed.  She’s watching a video of their dance routine before they head to a competition, pointing out every single thing that Luis is doing wrong. But there’s no malice in […] The post ‘Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty’ is a delightfully odd ode to the power of movement appeared …

Ambitious dance dramedy Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! makes moves, not all of them smooth

Josef Kubota Wladyka’s ballroom dramedy Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is a charming, ambitious, and whimsical meditation of grief that takes wild swings, some of which are quite endearing, but not all land as smoothly as the dancers running through their rumba routines. Despite its jarring stylistic distractions, at the movie’s core, there’s a genuine feel-good story, a real love of ballroom dancing, and great performances from its ensemble cast. H…

‘Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!’ is a pure dance-filled delight

“Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!” combines a gentle exploration of heartbreak with a whimsical tribute to those who love dance, writes Moira Macdonald.