よさこい と 誕生日２４

the following is a report of my weekend trip to osaka for よさこい (a.k.a. YOSAKOI! or 4351) . . . yosakoi is a japanese dance festival that began in kochi-ken (where i live) and has now spread across japan with the largest festival held each year in hokkaido. . . dance cream (my studio/ team) was the guest team. . . it was an amazing weekend with an amazing group of people (if not for their dancing skills, most definitely for their personalities). . .

friday night, we left dance cream at midnight. i was quite surprised to get on the bus and find that at least five people had bought beer for the ride. . . considering we were leaving on a five hour trip at midnight of essentially the same day we had to dance, i don’t know how their bodies had the energy to consume alcohol. . . i was one of the first people to fall asleep (although 小倉先生had put on the video of our dance performance at the ino paper art museum for me to watch). . . supposedly most others were out by about 3a.m. . . we arrived at the hotel in osaka around 4:15a.m. where gien, one of the team members, was delighted to discover a vending machine with haagen-dazs ice cream and could not be stopped in his purchase despite the time of day/night . . .we were soon led to our room (yes, the entire team slept in one room). . . the first night we had no futons, no pillows, no covers. . . just the tatami floor to sleep on and our bags and coats as pillows and blankets. . . i can’t say that i wasn’t annoyed. . . if someone expects me to perform (especially to perform almost non-stop for a twelve hour period of time), they better let me sleep properly the night before. . . but seeing as how we all have jobs (and could, therefore, not leave earlier) and how the studio has little money (and we, the dancers, didn’t have to pay for anything the entire trip), the first night was spent on a bus and tatami floor. . . thankfully, no one in the group snores. . . anyway. . .

our excellent night of rest finished around 6a.m. when people started getting into costume number one and doing their makeup and scarfing down a bit of breakfast. . . around 8a.m. we went began rehearsal on the indoor stage, by 9:30a.m. we were rehearsing on our outdoor stages, and a little after 10:00 the opening ceremonies began. . . the whole day was really quite a blur to me. . . not long after the opening ceremonies, we had our first performance . . . this was followed by a second and third performance with rehearsals and costume changes in between. . . by 1:40, i was famished and grouchy (from lack of sleep and food and breaks. . . seriously not even time for a bathroom run between 8:00 and 1:40). . . we all gobbled up as much of our おベンと (lunch boxes) as we could before our performance at 2p.m. . . . our last outdoor performance was, thankfully, around 3:30, as it was beginning to drizzle (the day had already been cold and dreary enough since we were running around in costumes designed for dance during the hottest part of summer in kochi). . . all the performances, sprints from stage to stage, and overly speedy costume changes ended around 4:20p.m. . . at this time, we were able to return to the indoor stage for one last cram rehearsal before the dinner show (at which we were the main event, being the guest team and all). . . the final rehearsal ended at 5:00, giving us a one hour break (the first of the day). . . unfortunately, half way through our haagen-dazs ice cream bars, we discovered that the one hour break had turned into a thirty minute break because we needed to be at the opening ceremonies of the dinner show. . . sorry this is getting lengthy. . .

once at the dinner show, we sat through a full hour of torture, watching everyone chow down on the banquet food and gulp down their beers. . . our team sat taking minute sips of water in order to avoid any last minute toilet runs while in costume. . .and then we were somehow getting our last minute pep talks backstage. . . and then there was dancing. . . and suddenly it was all over. . . and all that was left of the banquet was a meatball dish and a few pieces of rolled sushi. . . not the most rejuvenating meal after the day we had, but we were really just too exhausted to care. . .

anyway, regressing a bit. . . the dances themselves were quite an experience. . . i’m not used to dancing outside (especially in the rain. . . it reminded me somewhat of my high school cross county meets . . . i swear it always rained for regionals or state). . . anyway. . . i am also not used to being a very outward performer (modern dance tends to have a more internal focus). . .yosakoi is all about the crowd. . . our team had four dances. . . i was the only person who had to learn all four of them from scratch. . . did i mention that i was the only foreigner on my team? i tend to forget that because they treat me the same as everyone else, but everyone that talked to me in osaka seemed to point that out. . . the girl that dances next to me got upset because some guy in the audience apparently had his eye on me during one dance. . . after the show, she said all she had been thinking was ‘look at me! i’m dancing too!’. . . it was pretty funny. . . anyway. . . i was terrified for the first performance or two despite the fact that we had been rehearsing like crazy since june. . .by the final outdoor performance, i had relaxed a bit and was having a lot of fun. . . of course that all changed for our evening performance. . . the two dances that my teacher put me in the front row for were the two that i had the least amount of confidence in. . . for whatever reason (nerves, lack of sleep, lack of food, etc.), i was on auto-pilot for every single dance on Saturday. . . i.e. if i didn’t know the dance well enough before saturday, i was screwed on stage. . . the first dance went well enough, i suppose. . . since i was on auto-pilot, i can’t even remember what mistakes i might have made. . . the middle two dances (my front row dances) felt wretched (more than felt. . . i completely blanked out halfway through one dance). . . but the last dance. . .

the last dance was the most amazing dance i have ever performed. . . granted i have absolutely no idea how it looked. . . it was simply FUN. . . as much as i love dance (and obviously cannot survive without it), i rarely have loads of fun on stage. . . but this dance was amazing. . . i was center stage in the second row behind my teacher, who always makes mistakes (a fact that makes me feel quite a bit better b/c i’m always so hard on myself when i mess up). . . anyway, every bit of his energy was in that performance. . . the crowd was cheering like crazy. . . it was impossible to be outside of the moment. . . there was never a point at which i was thinking at all or even wondering what was happening around me. . . i never knew you could get so completely lost in a dance like that. . . at the end, 小倉先生 and i cross paths. . . the energy in his face was great (i think he looks like a madman when he dances all out). . . it was AMAZING. . .

and on that note, my first yosakoi was over. . . five and a half months of rehearsals for one twelve hour day. . . the most stress i have probably ever had to put on my body (thus far that is, as i hope to do it again in the near future). . . the most amazing day. . .

after dinner, we all had our baths (japanese style, of course. . . shower first, followed by a dip in the public bath/hot tub. . .along with a sauna. . . not to mention the tokyo team members that gave massages later in the evening. . . can’t think of a better way to relax on a cold, rainy day). . .

the team even remembered that sunday was my birthday and surprised me (really surprised me b/c i didn’t know that i had told anyone about my birthday) with a delicious strawberry cake. . . and a really cute card that almost everyone tried to write in english. . . lots of phrases like “may all your dreams come true,” “i love you,” “i wish you many happiness”. . . and then one from a japanese tv commercial “”my house is a daiwa house! oh!” . . . they are all so amazing! i could not think of a better way to celebrate my birthday (well, the day before my birthday). . .

sunday was a bit sad because we had to leave the tokyo members behind and start heading home to kochi. . . however, we decided to hang out in kobe for most of the day. . . starting with a trip to an aquarium (including a dolphin show, sea otters, penguins, and nemo). . . everyone let me choose the restaurant for lunch, so we went to an indian restaurant called ‘gay lords’ (sometimes japanese people seem a bit behind the times. . . i felt like i was with a group of elementary kids as they all giggled at the name. . . but the food was good). . . finally, we went shopping at an outlet mall. . . if there is one thing i have learned over the past year, it is that one cannot take a trip with japanese people without taking time to shop (i cannot tell you how much time we spent shopping during our free time in korea). . . anyway. . .

sunday was probably the first time i have been with everyone outside of dance class, workshops, concerts, studio parties and performances. . . everyone’s personality really came out. . . ban-chan headed to all the frilly, girly shops, miki to the sports shops, gien to the kobe pudding specialty shop, etc, etc. . . good bonding experience. . .

on the way home, we started discussing our next show(s). . . i think a small studio performance in march . . . and then the kochi-wide dance collaboration in may(?). . . lots to look forward to. . . but still sad to have yosakoi behind us. . .

whew. . . sorry that got a bit lengthy. . . just wanted to report while the experience was fresh in my mind (for once. . . how many other events do i still need to go back and report on?). . . if you don’t already know, i will be returning to the states from december 22nd to january 7th . . .let me know what you are all up to (especially if you plan to be in the chicago area at that time). . . じゃ、またね！