Dancing flowers blooming on a summer night 1-4N

Dancing flowers blooming on a summer night 1-4N

[Hero Club room]

Yum: Natsume-san, what should we do about the Bon dance?

Nat: What do you mean, what? Can't we just dance normally?

Yum: Our role is to become flowers and decorate the festival. I think it would be best to add a bit of our own touch to things.

Nat: ...You're right. Got it. I'll try to think.

Nat: By the way, how does Kochi's yosakoi look? Could you dance and show me?

Yum: Yes, certainly so! Its most prominent characteristic is that you hold naruko clappers in both hands while dancing.

Yum: You move and clack. You spring and clack. Clapping them like this is the foundation of it.

Yum: Then you add sharp and dynamic movements... Yosakoi, yosakoi, hoi-hoi! Do it like this.

Nat: Amazing, Miroku. It's like you actually had the clappers in your hands.

Yum: Your turn next, Natsume-san. Please introduce me to the eisa dance.

Nat: Roger that. When you dance the Okinawan eisa, you hold a taiko drum in one arm and a drumstick in the other.

Nat: And for movements, the basic thing is to raise your thighs high and move your legs one by one, bouncing with every step.

Nat: Raise one leg, bam. Raise another, bam. And then you add the shouts...

Nat: Hai-yai-yasasa! Sasasa! Hai-ya! ...Like that.

Yum: Powerful and rhythmical. A perfect fit for you, Natsume-san. That made me feel the southern breeze.

Yum: However...

Nat: Yeah, I understood that while dancing. Eisa and the Bon dance are way too different.

Yum: And the same goes for Kochi's yosakoi. It does not work without the clappers, when you get down to it.

Yum: This is troubling. Our experience is going to be of little use like this.

Nat: It's fine, we still have time. Let's start by learning the basics of the Bon dance.

Yum: Yes, let us do that. There are videos on the internet too, so let us start by watching those for the time being.

Yum: ...That was, in fact, considerably different.

Nat: The Bon dance is something you dance together, old or young, man or woman. Looks like it's composed entirely of simple movements.

Yum: But there was some fascinating dancing there as well. What was different there, I wonder?

Nat: I think it was the legs. Their footwork kept their posture steady and that gave birth to an overall beautiful dance.

Yum: What a deep subject the Bon dance is.

Nat: It's fine if we're just imitating at first. Let's try to dance and confirm things one by one.

Yum: Yes. No matter the subject, nothing replaces practice!