The traditional Japanese style of dance known as Bon Odori opens and closes annual Obon Festivals across the globe, including Santa Maria’s organized by the Guadalupe Buddhist Church. The festival—schedule for July 26 this year—includes performances, showcases of crafts, delicious food, and bonsai trimming demonstrations, but the festival begins and ends with the traditional group dance, which moves in a large, counter-clockwise circle around a taiko drummer.
In preparation for the annual cultural festival, Bon Odori Dance practices began on June 24 and will continue each Wednesday until the festival. The practices are open to anyone who wants to join in the dance, explained rehearsal leader Kathy Shimizu.
“It seems like the crowd is kind of dwindling, especially in the Japanese community,” Shimizu said. “But we are trying to rally a lot of the community to come together.”
Local families of Japanese descent have danced the Bon Odori every year in Santa Maria for generations, explained Shimizu. She has participated in the annual tradition ever since she could walk, and remembers the dance, costumes, makeup, and accessories that accompany the dance fondly.
While several diehards always show up and fill out the slow, sweeping circle’s adult population, Shimizu explained, local families and festival organizers enjoy seeing children get involved in the dance.
“I love teaching the small ones,” she said. “They don’t really know what they are doing, but that doesn’t really matter.”
Learning the Bon Odori isn’t without its challenges though, Shimizu said, as the coordination between hands and feet can be challenging to newcomers. Shimizu and Joyce Bendo Cole lead the rehearsals and patiently teach anyone the necessary steps, moves, and gestures and their order.
For dancers like Shimizu; Cole; and the daughter of Sun Account Manager Colleen Garcia, Alexa Garcia—who attended the first rehearsal—the dance moves are familiar from years of participation. Shimizu and Cole do try to keep the number and complexity of the dances simple though, Shimizu explained.
“We kind of stray off the path a bit, but we like to be unique and keep it easy,” she said. “A lot of these dances are repetitious, plus we do them every year, but we do try and keep it easy on ourselves.”
The Obon Festival’s a celebration of ancestors and friends who have passed on, Shimizu said, and the dance is a tribute to their spirits. The festival’s a chance for local families of Japanese descent to celebrate family and friends while also providing the area with a cultural showcase of traditional art, music, and food.
“That’s what’s fun for me, is seeing people come together who want to learn something new, maybe something outside of their culture, and they just want to participate and have fun,” Shimizu said. “And at the Obon Festival we will be dressed up in kimonos, everybody’s makeup is done, hair is up, so we try and make it colorful for people to watch.”
Arts Editor Joe Payne wishes he had a kimono. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jul 2-9, 2015.
