Press

Factor of change Jewish Japanese-American Jew traces her evolution through song, dance and story
February 7, 2005
Lisa Bornstein

Rachel Factor chose her title carefully, seizing on an ethnic slur that hits her twice, as both a Japanese-American and a Jew.

She also knows a bit about show business. Born Christine Frances Masaye Horii in Honolulu, Factor succeeded in her 20s as a dancer in music videos, concerts and TV. She performed on Broadway in Shogun, The Musical and Miss Saigon, and was a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall.

Today, she's an orthodox Jew living in Jerusalem, raising two children, covering her hair and going by a new name. She tells the story in a performance for women only Tuesday, tracing her evolution through song, dance and story.

Touring the country since December, Factor has found women flocking to her performances, as well as a few men who get turned away at the door. Religious modesty precludes her from performing for men these days.

"It's been really, really wonderful going to the smaller communities," Factor says. "You really don't get any entertainment, certainly not for the religious community, that is appropriate. People feel very inspired. They find out there's something kosher they can go to and they're so excited, they flock to it."

She grew up in a coed world, and was quickly drawn into dance, then acting, and eventually writing.

"Dance was an expression that I so desperately needed," says Factor, now 36. "I wasn't very verbal growing up. I found a way to express myself nonverbally through dance and it was a long process. (Through acting) I was able to express myself through words, but not my own words, then I was able to express myself through writing. Ultimately, I was able to express myself through my own words, but also through music."

Her road toward Judaism began when she fell in love with Todd Factor, a fairly secular Jew. She underwent two conversions, first as a Conservative Jew and then, as the couple became increasingly observant, as an Orthodox Jew. It was a gradual process.

"We both saw it and we both loved it and we knew that we wanted it for our family and our children," she says. "I'm much more of a moderate person and my husband is much more extreme. He'd be ready and I'd have to catch up a little bit."

The two ended up moving to Jerusalem in August 2003, where he studies in a yeshiva and she raises their two children.

"With taking on orthodox Judaism, there's a lot of obligations, there's a lot of knowledge that you need to have," she says. "(Moving to Israel) would just help us get away from the temptations of going back to our old way of life. It's a Jewish state, so observing Sabbath is much easier because the work week revolves around Shabbos."

In Israel, though, a woman with Japanese features stands out. Factor's ethnicity, though, always had been a conflict.

"A lot of what the show deals with were my own identity issues before I came to Judaism. I really had a strong issue as a Japanese-American growing up in American culture four generations away from Japan. My parents didn't speak Japanese, they didn't eat Japanese food," Factor says.

"I finally accepted who I was, appreciated who I was. I was as American as my husband. The challenge of taking on Judaism was the last thing I wanted to do. Now I wanted to be this proud Asian-American."

Within the Orthodox community, Factor found that once people knew she was Jewish, she was accepted equally.

"I was very, very nervous because it was my issue growing up that I didn't fit in because of the way I looked. What I found was that I felt very accepted and I wasn't being singled out. I felt that the question was, of course, when they looked at me, are you Jewish or are you not Jewish?"

Factor says her parents have been supportive of her change in life, although family and longtime friends still call her Tina.

"Even though I'm what looks like the furthest away in the family from their Japanese heritage, I gave my children Japanese names for their middle names. I want them to know that they came from a beautiful culture and heritage. It's part of who they are, and it's an addition," she says.

The woman who once high-kicked at Radio City now dances for women only, kicking her legs out from under a long skirt.

"Something I've really grown to appreciate is the whole idea of modesty. It not only became easier to do above and beyond the law, but it starts to extend into the house. I used to just kind of walk around in a tank top or whatever, but somehow your sense of modesty does grow so that it becomes not so normal not to do that anymore," Factor says. "It's about who you are on the inside, not about what you look like on the outside."

The Rockettes, it turns out, was a difficult but not creatively rewarding job. Still, she treasures the memory.

"I think it'll be a cool thing to tell my kids I was a Radio City Rockette," she says, "but I think it'll be even cooler to tell my kids and my grandkids I was a Radio City Rockette but I stopped performing because I wanted to be a religious Jew."

Lisa Bornstein is the theater critic. bornsteinl@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5101

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ON STAGE Info:

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Name: J.A.P.

Genre: Monologue

ShowTime: 7 p.m. March 8

Location: Shwayder Theatre of the Jewish Community Center, 350 S. Dahlia St.

Price: General seating $25, $40 for reserved seats and post-show reception. The show is for women only.

Ticket Info: 888-256-1764 or www.rachel-factor.com