| The Dancing Wild Man of Factoria
Factoria, the southernmost neighborhood of Bellevue, is known mainly as a tightly packed retail center where parking is as hard to find as a reasonably priced coffee. But to one wild-maned, hyper-energetic maverick, Factoria is the ultimate dance floor! Along the office parks of Southeast 38th Street, Kenny Nagamatsu gets his groove on daily, with a wild abandon that constantly turns heads and slows traffic.
For about a decade, Kenny has publicly hopped, bopped, shimmied and shook to the tunes on his portable CD player. His enthusiasm has doubtlessly inspired countless smiles and just as many double-takes among the throngs of white-collar workers who drive by. During dance moves, he’ll often wave at passing cars, getting friendly honks in return. When he really gets going, he yells an emphatic “OWWW!” and performs an odd, hopping pirouette. This, coupled with his somewhat feral appearance, has earned him the moniker Dancing Wild Man in some circles.
For all his boisterousness, Kenny is remarkably soft-spoken. When approached by your friendly Weird Washington representative, he seemed taken aback that anyone would be interested in learning a little about him. With an oddly British accent and a surprisingly shy demeanor, he offered his basic motivations: “I don’t care what people think of me, and I don’t care what I look like.” As he explains it, he simply loves his tunes and doesn’t care who knows it, volunteering that The Beatles and the Monkees really get him going. He also offers that he has two jobs. That is, two different eateries pay him to do his unique dancing while holding advertising signs.
So in short: he’s got the look, the moves, the recognition and steady work doing what he loves best. By any standard, he’s good to go! Rock on, Kenny! |
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