Awa Odori
Awa Odori ( Japanese 阿波 お ど り 'Awa Dance' ) describes a Bon Odori - traditional Japanese dance for the Obon Festival - from Tokushima Prefecture (historically Awa Province ). The dance is characterized both by its irregular steps and by its different dance styles for men and women.
The most famous performance of this dance is the four-day Tokushima Awa Odori ( 徳 島 市 阿波 お ど り ), which takes place every year from August 12th to 15th in the city of Tokushima and is one of the largest dance festivals in Japan with 100,000 dancers and 1.3 million visitors .
history
There are three theories about the origin of the Awa Odori. The most commonly cited is that after his Tokushima Castle was completed in 1587, the daimyo Hachisuka Iemasa held a joyous festival where he served sake to the townspeople . These then danced more and more exuberantly, and the distinctive dance movements stem from their drunkenness. According to the second theory, the dance is only a variant of an older Bon Odori danced in the region. The third theory aims at the character as a group dance and assumes that it was inspired by the Fūryū , which is also considered the source of the Nō theater. The chronicle Miyoshi-ki ( 三好 記 ) written in 1663 describes that such a Fūryū dance was performed in front of the general Sogō Masayasu at Shōzui Castle in today's Aizumi in 1578 .
The name Awa Odori was only introduced at the beginning of the Shōwa period (1929-1989), when it began to market the dance to tourism.
Although the dance originated in Tokushima Prefecture, Awa Odori festivals can now be found across the country, including the Tōkyō Kōenji Awa Odori ( 東京 高 円 寺 阿波 お ど り ), which began in 1957 by shopkeepers to revitalize the shopping street of Kōenji in Suginami and lasted until 2013 grew to 156 groups with 10,000 dancers and a million visitors.
dance
The Awa Odori is danced in two styles: a male and a female. What both have in common is the sequence of steps. This consists in placing the right foot with the toes first crossed in front of the left foot and then the left foot with the toes first crossed in front of the right foot. At the same time, when the right or left foot moves forward, the corresponding right or left arm is also moved forward, accompanied by a rotating hand movement.
In the male style, the dancers wear a loosely dressed Happi / Hanten (traditional worker jacket ) as well as an uchiwa (fan) and a tenugui (towel) as headgear. The latter is usually either worn rolled over the forehead to catch sweat or covered with the hair tied with the ends under the nose. The male style is danced slightly forward and knees bent. The hands are stretched alternately between chest and forehead height and the wrist is moved up and down at the same time.
In the female style, the dancers wear a yukata (summer kimono ), an amigasa (ship-shaped hat) and geta (sandals). Since these more elegant clothes do not allow as dynamic movements as in the male style, the movements are more restrained. The hands remain stretched towards the sky, the arms are only moved towards the legs with short shoulder movements and the wrists are also rotated.
However, the male style is also danced by women.
The dance is danced in groups of 30 to 200, as an exception also up to 500, people named in ren ( Fest ) in the form of a pageant. During the parade, the dancers of both styles form separate blocks. There is also another block of musicians and possibly singers who play the shamisen (lute), kane (bowl gong ), taiko (drum) or yokobue (flute).
Since the audience is encouraged to join in the dancing, there are also ad-hoc groups ( に わ か 連 , niwakaren ) that you can join freely in everyday clothing.
music
The odori is danced to a rhythm called zomeki ( ぞ め き , “noisy walking around”) and consists of two bars. In addition, the Awa Odori includes a Yoshikono-bushi ( よ し こ の 節 ) called song of unknown origin. However, it is believed to be based on the popular folk songs Haiya-bushi ( ハ イ ヤ 節 ) from Ushibuka (now Amakusa ) in Kumamoto Prefecture or Itako-bushi ( 潮 来 節 ) from Itako in Ibaraki Prefecture, known in the Edo period .
The most famous verse of this song is the following, which is also the motto of Awa Odori:
|
踊 る 阿呆 に |
Odoru ahō ni |
Dancing fools and |
The Awa Odori is therefore also known as the "fool's dance" ( 阿呆 踊 り , ahō odori ).
This is accompanied by cheers like eraiyatcha eraiyatcha, yoi yoi yoi yoi ( エ ラ イ ヤ ッ ッ ャ エ エ ラ イ ヤ ッ チ ャ 、 ヨ イ ヨ ヨ イ ヨ イ ヨ イ ).
Web links
- Close-ups of the Gojahei troupe with the various dance and performance forms on YouTube
- Various smaller groups on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Dancing at Japanese Festivals: Awa Odori (Tokushima Prefecture). In: Kids Web Japan. Department of Foreign Affairs , accessed August 14, 2014 .
- ↑ a b c d 阿波 お ど り に つ い て . (No longer available online.) 阿波 お ど り 会館 , Archived from the original on August 12, 2014 ; Retrieved August 14, 2014 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c 阿波 お ど り . (No longer available online.) In: 阿波 ナ ビ . Archived from the original on October 19, 2013 ; Retrieved August 14, 2014 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b The Awa Odori (Awa Dance). Tokushima Prefecture. Retrieved August 14, 2014 .
- ↑ 高 円 寺 阿波 お ど り の 歴 史 ｜ 高 円 寺 阿波 お ど り と は . NPO 法人 東京 高 円 寺 阿波 お ど り 振興 協会 , accessed August 14, 2014 (Japanese).
- ↑ 有名 連 の ご 紹 介 . (No longer available online.) 阿波 お ど り 会館 , Archived from the original on March 15, 2015 ; Retrieved August 14, 2014 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ に わ か 連 . Tokushima City, Retrieved August 14, 2014 (Japanese).
- ↑ a b 幸運 社 (Ed.): 「四季 の こ と ば」 ポ ケ ッ ト 辞典 . PHP Kenkyūjo, Tokyo 2002, ISBN 978-4-569-57862-0 ( limited preview in Google book search).
