One thing that I've really been missing here in Japan is dancing. So in June, I decided to finally remedy that. A couple of my students are in a local dance group and asked if I would join. The group is a yosakoi dance group, which blends modern dance in with the traditional Awa Dori Japanese dance style. Every year, there is a huge yosakoi festival in Sasebo, and each year I have so much fun watching. All the performers look like they are having so much fun!
I've been practicing with the team for about two months now, and we are very busy perfecting our dance for the Sasebo festival in October. My friends and I signed up to go with the group to Kochi in Shikoku for the all-Japan yosakoi festival held last week. To our surprise, we wouldn't be dancing the dance we had been learning for two months, but a dance they performed four years ago! In three practices, we did our best to pick up the moves, and then hopped on a night bus for the festival. Our costumes were some of the WORST I've ever seen. One of the college girls did my hair for me, and while she was doing it, all the high school girls kept gasping and saying how good it looked. That's when I knew I was in big trouble...
Bad Sailor Moon costume and freak Elvira hair aside, I had so much fun dancing! We performed twice on stage, and about 10 times down arcades and streets. The crowd really got into it, and some people on the sides fanned us as we went past. It was really hot and humid, but everyone in our group made it out unscathed. As we were dancing down one of the streets, a very nicely dressed lady came in front of me as I was dancing. I didn't see her, so I almost hit her in the face. She put something around my neck. I had no idea what this meant, so I just thanked her, bowed and kept dancing. Later I learned that it was an individual award for dancing with spirit. Or something like that. I'm was so honored to receive that during my first performance!
Here's a link to a video of one of our street performances.
http://www.youtube.com/user/papasankasuga#p/u/6/jWuaYbnwk48
