Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Dancin' In The Street


The biggest attraction at Kagurazaka Festival is the Awa-Odori (Awa Dance), which is a type of traditional Japanese dance done during the Obon season (July-August).

It's widely known as the dance of Tokushima Prefecture, but it became so popular that there are now festivals nation-wide that features Awa-Odori. I love watching everyone do this dance. There are different styles of dance for men and women, one wild and energetic and the other feminine and alluring. And as in various dances, there were groups that did traditional dances and others who were much more modern.

The movements are often quite quick and my camera really couldn't keep up, especially since it was dark out, and most of the photos ended up blurred. But I liked how some of the photos turned out.

The girls were calling out "Ya-tto-sa Ya-tto-sa!" while dancing down the avenue. So were some people watching in the crowd. (You can hear it here.)

It's a great show and really a whole lot of fun for everyone around!


Watch a great video with many Awa-Odori groups from this year here!

13 comments:

  1. Both your images are delightful, Kaori! Talk about a procession of a different kind... yours and mine! LOL! I'm so happy to see everyone smiling and having a good time here. The videos was fun to watch too, to see the movement and hear the sounds.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your pictures are nice, but the whole video is amazing! So many dancers with colorful costumes!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The synchronisation in the first shot is incredible!

    ReplyDelete
  4. If this were a few years ago I would have expected to see Michael Jackson out in front of these people!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's great I enjoyed that. It sure looks like a lot of fun, also for the dancers.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Whoopie!

    Your photos caught the two styles of dance well. The blur in the top one gives it a sense of movement.

    So unique, fun, and beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for this wonderful journey,a bit like a dream.

    Please have a good Thursday.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great night festival photos! I especially like the women's yukatas with those very special hats!!
    Tanoshimi desu ne!

    ReplyDelete
  9. These two shots turned out well - full of energy and movement! Although I normally try to stay away from crowds like this.

    ReplyDelete
  10. It's beautiful, I love this photo! I would have loved to have seen this in person!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very nice photos! I loved their "dancing in the street" and chanting! And the traditional outfits were fabulous too. Fun post, Kaori... thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Fabulous Kaori, the video was such fun to watch, love the ladies kimonos so pretty and feminine.

    ReplyDelete
  13. She looks like a very sweet girl!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much! Love it when you comment! xx