Greenville's Chikako Massey, who was born and grew up in Japan, has been a lifelong advocate of enhancing the U.S./Japanese ties for business/industry, education and culture.

Rhett Butler/Her magazine (ENLARGE)

Chikako Massey, right, instructs a student during a January ballroom dancing class at the Pitt County Recreation Complex.

She directed ECU's Japan Center East until June of 2007, working for cultural enrichment.

A recipient of International Business Excellence Award, she recently has become a business, education and fitness consultant in Greenville. She currently is focused on two things: helping K~12 foreign students learn English for academic success; and training area ballroom dancing enthusiasts.

Chikako and her husband, Dr. Dennis Massey, have studied ballroom dance under former national champions in Wisconsin and Illinois and have enjoyed the dance in the last 15 years. She began teaching ballroom dancing in the fall of 2007, starting a very small group of students, which has expanded quickly into four group lessons.

The two seemingly unrelated interests of bilingualism and ballroom dancing have helped Chikako enrich her life immensely. "Bilingual ability has lead me to meet and work for world-class professionals, from a former figure stating Gold medalist to executives of Fortune 500 companies, through my interpreter job," she said. "That is why I am so passionate about helping foreign students to learn English for future success. As for ballroom dance, it has carried me through good times and the worst predicaments while enjoying and meeting friends."

She holds a bachelor's degree from Doshisha Women's College, Kyoto, Japan, and is a candidate for a master's degree in adult education at East Carolina University. She and her husband have a black pug, Kuro.

Here's more:

My proudest accomplishment is:

"Receiving an International Business Excellence Award. I received the award when I was director of International Marketing at Eastbay, one of the largest mail order companies in the world for athletic footwear and apparel. Other recipients were international business directors of Land's End and U.S. Mint. Eastbay was a relatively unknown company then, yet, receiving the award with these giant companies was truly a great honor for me."

My passion is:

"Ballroom dance. Foxtrot, Waltz and ChaCha are my favorite dances."

If I were a superheroine, I'd want the power to:

"Bring about world peace."

My guilty pleasure is:

"Sitting in front of my computer and going to the Rhapsody site to search for all sorts of music and listening to the songs and feeling almost intoxicated."

My favorite possession is:

"A dance floor in my house to practice ballroom dancing. We filled a swimming pool and built the dance floor."

Right now I'm reading:

"Textbooks for my graduate school work."

The best advice my mother ever gave me was:

"Nobody is paying attention to you as much as you think they are. This helped me to help others to be more comfortable with learning dancing."

My favorite place in the world is:

"Greenville, North Carolina. I am serious!! I love the warm climate and people."

My favorite Web site is:

"www.listen.com."

I'd like to learn to:

"Do the Night Club Two Steps, a very beautiful dance step."

What to learn from Her?

Chikako Massey teaches four-week ballroom dance for beginners and advanced beginners at the Pitt County Recreation Complex, 4561 County Home Road. For information, call 355-1522 or e-mail cmassey@suddenlink.net.