Both are fools alike, so why not dance?

Awa Odori musicians

The dancers are fools

The watchers are fools

Both are fools alike so

 Why not dance?

These were the lyrics that could be heard throughout the streets of Tokushima (in Japanese of course) during the second largest dance festival in the world - Awa Odori! That's right, you heard it, the second largest dance festival in the world - the biggest dance festival in Japan - is held in the lovely prefecture that I call home! Last year, due to arriving a little later in Japan than I had hoped, I missed out on this wonderful festival. Thankfully this year I was present, healthy and ready to dance my little tabi (Japanese socks) off!

So let me give you a tiny bit more information on Awa Odori (shamelessly copied from Wikipedia!)
So Awa Odori is held in Tokushima from 12th - 15th August as part of the Obon Festival (Japanese Buddhist custom of honouring the spirits of one's dead ancestors). Groups of choreographer dancers and musicians known as ren dance through the streets, typically accompanied by the shamisen lute, taiko drums, shinobue flute and the kane bell. Performers wear traditional obon dance costumes and chant and sing as they parade through the streets.

Another huge factor of Awa Odori is that it attracts many tourists to Tokushima each year (around 1.3 million to be exact!) This means that over Awa Odori, the population of Tokushima pretty much doubles in size! It's fair to say that this is a pretty big event.

The fan for Awasowaren

So yes, back to me!! So this year I was determined to dance in the festival and so signed up to dance with the international dance ren Awasowa (translated to mean peace to the world, or something like that). This dance group has been going for 30 years now and each year, new and old JETs alike come together to make a fool out of themselves in the street. This year, I and a few of my other friends decided to opt for the more traditional women's costume as opposed to the normal yukata that all the first year JETs have to wear. It's a lot more restrictive (I found it hard to breathe most of the night) but we definitely looked the part and it was really fun to feel like I was doing something a little bit special. Another fun part of being in the women's costume was that we were allowed to dance at the front of the group, leading the other 200 rabble behind us! It was pretty intimidating (I think I was the only one in the women's costume who hadn't danced before) but it was a big thrill stepping out into the streets and stages leading the pack!

Dani and I in the women's costume

Don't get me wrong, although above the description said we danced choreographed dances, that is only really for the professional groups, our group simply did the basic dance. In its simplest term, this dance is just stepping one foot in front of the other to the beat, putting forward a raised arm/hand of the same side. You can do this as crazy or as small as you want to - being in the women's costume meant that we took little steps but kept our arms raised pretty high. The stages consisted of the group dancing down the street with bleachers for the audience to sit on either side. Huge floodlights lit up the area meaning that by the time you reached the other end, sweat was pouring down your face! But it was totally worth it, and you got a huge buzz going through, and once you were out the other side.

Another really fun part of the festival was that when we weren't dancing on the stages, we could watch all the other groups do their dances, and could also join in with the many spontaneous street circles that kept popping up all over the place! It was really good fun. So I don't have much else to say about this, just that is was a truly brilliant evening, and if you ever come to Japan, can I recommend that you make the trip down to Tokushima during Obon/Awa Odori and see the fun sites for yourself. If I stay here another year, I will definitely be going back to dance and see this wonderful spectacle. So I'll leave you with videos and photos from the evening. If you have any questions please ask, I may have forgotten to write about the most basic things!

Enjoy!

 

Team GB, practicing the dance (boy's dance)

Joining in with a street dance

A few of the dancers for Awasowaren

Ladies in the women's costume! (I'm second from the right - the smallest obviously!)

Some of the new JETs with the ladies!

Looking back on the Awasowaren masses! (The giant red fan is still part of our group!)

Middle newbies framed by 2nd years Broc and Dani

Going around after we danced and changed. You get to meet quite a few characters!

Todd and Alex (white and blue) getting in with a street dance!

One last thing! I forgot to mention the things we shouted as we danced our merry little dance.

One person would shout 'Yatto saaaaaa'                         (No real translation, it's just fun to shout!)
And everyone would answer back with 'Yatto yatto'

And another would ask 'Odori wa'      (kind of meaning, what is you dance group called?)
Answered with 'Awasowaren'             (the name of our group)