July 8 - Awa Odori with Refugees
PLEASE NOTE: I have not had the chance to watermark all of my photos, and it will take me a great deal of time, as I published this and my other blogs between 2010-2017. I ask you to respect my property. Feel free to use them as long as you credit me as follows: Photo by Jody McBrien, learningtheworld.org. Thank you.
One of my contacts at REN (Refugee Empowerment Network) in Tokyo invited me to an Awa Odori festival on Saturday, July 15. Since Dick and I will be in Okinawa, Hisako invited us to come for the rehearsal a week earlier, so that's where we were on the 8th.
Our little rehearsal took place in a community center with about 15 people. I had met two of the staff and two of the refugees previously. Everyone was very kind and happy to be doing something fun together. We had two young women as our dance instructors. They taught us more about how to move the legs and point the feet, along with shaping the arms and our bodies as we moved along. It was fun and good exercise! So now we will return to the US with a bit more traditional knowledge.
A Bit of Background
Awa Odori has been connected to the O-Bon Buddhist festival, when the spirits of the dead are thought to return for a visit to their ancestral homes.
The celebrations are highlighted by the Awa Odori, or "dance of fools," especially in Tokushima City during the mid-August time of O-Bon. There are three main theories about the origin. The most popular connects the dance with Tokushima. There, 430 years ago, a feudal lord, Hachisuka Iemasa, is said to have thrown a large party with great quantities of sake to honor the completion of his castle. The people became drunk and started to wobble around, dancing. But there was so much merriment that all decided to make this an annual event.
"Awa" is the former name of Tokushima, and "odori" means "dance." The basic dance starts with both arms overhead. The right arm moves down when the right foot goes forward; the left arm moves down (and the right returns above) when the left foot is forward. As with most dances, that is the most basic description. There are more interesting ways of moving the arms and legs that finesse the dance. The chant that accompanies the dance translates, "As the song goes, dancing fools and watching fools are both fools, so why not dance?"The Tokushima celebration, which occurs every 12-15 August, draws over a million visitors and about 100,000 visitors. Dance troupes are chosen to perform along the main street every night. Then anyone who is there can join in dancing. If you're good with crowds and late nights, it would be great fun!
Men wear happi coats and have a more vigorous version of the dance. Women wear yukata, light cotton kimono; and amigasa, a woven, peaked straw hat.
NOTE: May 2018 date on post is republish date, not date of the event.
I did not take these photos.
One of my contacts at REN (Refugee Empowerment Network) in Tokyo invited me to an Awa Odori festival on Saturday, July 15. Since Dick and I will be in Okinawa, Hisako invited us to come for the rehearsal a week earlier, so that's where we were on the 8th.
Our little rehearsal took place in a community center with about 15 people. I had met two of the staff and two of the refugees previously. Everyone was very kind and happy to be doing something fun together. We had two young women as our dance instructors. They taught us more about how to move the legs and point the feet, along with shaping the arms and our bodies as we moved along. It was fun and good exercise! So now we will return to the US with a bit more traditional knowledge.
A Bit of Background
Awa Odori has been connected to the O-Bon Buddhist festival, when the spirits of the dead are thought to return for a visit to their ancestral homes.
The celebrations are highlighted by the Awa Odori, or "dance of fools," especially in Tokushima City during the mid-August time of O-Bon. There are three main theories about the origin. The most popular connects the dance with Tokushima. There, 430 years ago, a feudal lord, Hachisuka Iemasa, is said to have thrown a large party with great quantities of sake to honor the completion of his castle. The people became drunk and started to wobble around, dancing. But there was so much merriment that all decided to make this an annual event.
"Awa" is the former name of Tokushima, and "odori" means "dance." The basic dance starts with both arms overhead. The right arm moves down when the right foot goes forward; the left arm moves down (and the right returns above) when the left foot is forward. As with most dances, that is the most basic description. There are more interesting ways of moving the arms and legs that finesse the dance. The chant that accompanies the dance translates, "As the song goes, dancing fools and watching fools are both fools, so why not dance?"The Tokushima celebration, which occurs every 12-15 August, draws over a million visitors and about 100,000 visitors. Dance troupes are chosen to perform along the main street every night. Then anyone who is there can join in dancing. If you're good with crowds and late nights, it would be great fun!
Men wear happi coats and have a more vigorous version of the dance. Women wear yukata, light cotton kimono; and amigasa, a woven, peaked straw hat.
NOTE: May 2018 date on post is republish date, not date of the event.
I did not take these photos.
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