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What was it that dragged me to this club?
The answer: the noise! The "clack-clack-clack"
of the naruko was very puzzling. Then
there was the music, a modernised version of
Japanese folklore music. Most of the music they
dance to is really appalling. That is how I
went to learn about Yosakoi and particularly
Adachi sensei's Yumemai Yosakoi Club:
by hearing all those strange noises next door
while I was training in the gymnasium.
Adachi sensei is a very beautiful woman and
I was shocked when she told me she had a son
my age. Her daughter in law is in the club as
well and is one of the most gifted performers.
Adachi sensei is very slim, athletic and always
well attired. She is very elegant and her posture
is perfect.
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Dancing
in the streets during a recent festival
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I suspect she studied ballet as well as jazz
dance. She is a lively person and a severe teacher.
Not severe like mean or stern but rather so
passionate about dancing that she is very demanding
of her students. She expects you to do your
best, to be dedicated in practice in order to
progress.
Adachi sensei's passion is Jazz dance and her
dream was to link traditional Japanese dance
to it. Yosakoi was the answer. After
studying under an eminent teacher in Kochi,
she came back to Matsue and started the Yumemai
Yosakoi Club.
Yosakoi is a folk dance from Kochi Prefecture, Shikoku. It is not a solo
dance, but a group dance. The two biggest festivals where it may be seen are the
ones in Kochi (held in August) and Hawaii (held in March). Yosakoi's main
identifier is the use of the naruko. Reminiscent of castanets, you hold
one in each hand and "clack" them with a flick of the wrist. Yosakoi
is very different from "bon odori" or even "awa-odori",
because it is a very energetic dance: you are always moving! You have basic steps
and postures in every dance which are borrowed from the Japanese folk dance repertoire.
Into that Adachi sensei throws jazz, gymnastics and even boxing movements. It
is quite hard to explain what kind of dance we perform but ultimately we end up
with a really nice ensemble. The music is beautiful and all the members move interactively
to form complex figures. But not too complex that than a beginner, who never practiced
dance and has no particular talent for it, would be unable to learn and perform
it.
When I first joined, I must confess I felt ugly,
fat and hopeless. I felt like a whale in a team
of swans. The members of the club are mostly
women (we have six or seven boys) from their
early twenties to early fifties. They are all
fit and have so much energy, even more than
the Japanese standards we are used to. I was
breathless after one hour when they would go
for three without suffering. The fact that we
are always facing a big mirror, like in every
dance club, did not help my self confidence.
Luck would have it that our teacher created
a new dance just after I joined the club so
learning with the others this new composition
helped me to feel more comfortable. Though difficult
and frustrating in the beginning, the music
and the great ensemble helped me to stay very
happy with the experience. When I was finally
able to keep up with the others I thoroughly
enjoyed it. I then had to take the next step:
do the same thing in full costume and makeup
on-stage in front of hundreds of total strangers.
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Beaming
smiles as they perform for children
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These ladies, though they all work and have
families, give up their weekends to perform
at festivals, parties, and inaugurations etc.
in Shimane and as far as Yamaguchi, Tottori
or Shikoku. In summer they are busy almost every
weekend. Their show is always a great attraction
and this last year Yosakoi preceded the Matsue
Firework Festival (Suigosai), and the
Drumming Festival (Dogyoretsu). Under
the hard sun in Kochi or rain and lightening
in Matsue they are in full attire and makeup
and they give all they can to the audience.
They really love it and it is a privilege to
be a witness to that.
We practice every Tuesday and Sunday, from
19:00 to 21:45. It may seem too much at a very
inconvenient time but once you start going you
really relish it and you could care less about
missing the soap operas on TV!
I find it a nice form of stress relief for
work and culture shock, but most of all it's
a great group interaction. It is a real physical
challenge for me since I am not flexible or
very graceful. It is also a good physical activity
which involves many muscles I never worked out
before (when I go back to practice after a holiday
I really suffer!). But as they say, "No
pain, no gain" and this club will certainly
linger as one of my best memories from my life
in Matsue.
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