Nengajo and 2011

Happy New Year! We have decided to send a New Years greetings rather than Christmas or holiday greetings for a few reasons: (1) People get tons of messages and greetings before Christmas, but this is one they can enjoy after the holidays when they have to dig themselves out of their relaxed mode and get back into a regular pace, and (2) There is usually such a panic to get stuff done before Christmas that it is nicer to relax and write/send greetings between Christmas and New Years.

We sent some nengajō (年賀状) or New Years postcards, and an email message to our whole mailing list. This year we featured photos from our production Odori: The World of Kabuki Dance. Clockwise from the upper left corner is IZUMI Tokuho in Yashikimusume, FUJIMA Shôgo in Tomoyakko, FUJIMA Sayû in Shiki no Yamamba, and FUJIMA Monyo in Matsu.

2011 is the Year of the Rabbit - which is supposed to be calmer than last year (Year of the Tiger) with an "unhurried pace...without too many annoyances" http://www.theholidayspot.com/chinese_new_year/more_zodiacs/rabbit.htm We will be pretty busy this year as well - though not as crazy as 2010 - and we are certainly hoping for the "lack of annoyances" for everyone!

Jiuta Mai

a tenbei fan often used in jiuta mai

Last Sunday I performed at the "In the House Festival." They did a themed event called "The Joys of Japan" and had a dinner made by the fabulous Kikuchi Shozo.  It was delicious!!! and he (and his wife) worked miracles in a small kitchen. Other performers included Alcvin Ramos and Uzume Taiko.  It was a pretty interesting evening.

I decided to dance two pieces that were created to be danced in a small concert situation.  One of them was a jiuta-mai called Kurokami. Jiuta is a kind of music from the Kansai region of Japan (Kyoto and Osaka area) and mai indicates that the dance is slow and circular rather than the lively odori of the kabuki theatre. More info on these styles of nihon buyoh are at an earlier post: http://tomoearts.blogspot.com/2010/03/odori-vs-mai-and-how-it-can-all-be.html

I am not sure whether everyone in the audience appreciated the slooooowwwwneeeessss of the piece, but I know a few did.  It was great to get a chance to perform one of these pieces - and I may need to create some more opportunities to dance jiuta-mai pieces!