On August 8, 2012, as part of its social contribution program in co-operation with the Shiki Theater Company, Canon held the Canon Cats School.

Canon Cats School is carried out as a part of education support activities in Kanagawa Prefecture, where Canon Cats Theater is located. In cooperation with the Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education, 30 students belonging to groups specializing in dance of the All Japan High School Athletic Federation participated in this event. Since the Canon Cats Theater will have its final show on November 11 of this year, this fourth Cats School was the last time the program would be held.

The school opened with the students enjoying a performance of “Cats” by the Shiki Theater Company actors. After that, seven of the actors from the cast, including Yuki Matsushima, who plays Mistofelees, served as instructors for a special Cats School seminar. The students’ eyes sparkled as they received instruction directly from actors who had just earlier been on stage. They listened with great zeal as they learned the dance.
After the seminar, the participants were divided into three groups and respectively created distinctive choreography, which they were able to present on the real Cats stage as the fruits of the seminar. The stage director and all the other staff members gave them unsparing applause, filling the participating students with emotion and excitement.

After the program, the participating students offered us comments such as that, “Being allowed to dance on a real stage with professional lighting will be my most treasured memory,” “I want to put this experience to use in my dance club activities,” and “We got see the performance of Cats several times, and ‘my dream to dance on stage someday’ was granted through this program.”