Photos by MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo
Susan Imoto, left, and Mariel McEwan practice on Tuesday evening “Sho Tokyo no Ondo,” one of the dances to be performed during the 66th Nisei Week Japanese Festival. The free practices are being held in JACCC plaza.
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“Right, left, right ... eh sa sah, eh sa sah,” called out Mieko Tango of Fujima Kansuma Classical Japanese Dance School to the dancers Tuesday night at the first practice for this year’s Nisei Week Grand Parade and ondo.
The dancers moved in a large circle beneath the tent set up in the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center plaza. Under the watchful eye of Madame Fujima Kansuma, more than 60 dancers, many in colorful yukata, learned the steps for the two dances to be performed next month during Nisei Week. Madame Kansuma explained that the dances—“Sho Tokyo no Ondo” (Little Tokyo Dance) and “Wa Ni Natte Odoro” (Let’s Dance in a Circle)—represent two very different styles.
“I picked a real classic,” Kansuma said of “Sho Tokyo no Ondo,” as she described how she incorporated movements that represent irasshai (welcome) and carrying a heavy suitcase.
“The second dance ‘Wa Ni Natte Odoro’ is very modern. You use your hips more,” Kansuma explained.
The public is invited to join to attend the practices and join in the ondo, which will be held on Aug. 20 from 3:30 p.m. on First Street in Little Tokyo. |
