Tanabata & Upcoming: Japanese Garden Party and butoh dancing

SJG • 7/7/13 - Decorating bamboo branches.  Photo by Aurora Santiago

by aleks
Tanabata's origin dates back to more than 2,000 years old Chinese tale, which is told in different variations in several Asian countries:  once there was a weaver princess named Orihime and a cow herder prince named Hikobosh  (represented by the stars Vega and Altair ) - thy married and were so much in love that they neglected their jobs, which  brought the wrath of Orihime's father.  He was very angry at them and separated them on opposite sides of the Amanogawa River (Milky Way),  only allowing them to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar. Tanabata literally means the night of the seventh and we did celebrate it on 7/7 this year.

SJG • 7/7/13 - Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo of  Eth-Noh-Tec tells the Tanabata story.
 Photo by Aurora Santiago

This year our events coordinator, Rachel Harris, invited master storyteller Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo of San Francisco based Eth-Noh-Tec, who delighted the audience with folktales form Japan, including the story of Tanabata.  I hope Robert returns often to our Garden - his performance came complete with music and dance, in an interactive format that encouraged the audience to participate vocally and with gestures - he had both kids and adults supplying him with cue words and sounds he asked for, as well as performing kinetic dance of hands to illustrate different parts of the story - I dropped my camera too many times in my lap, eager to be kid again and wave my hands, too.

Fortunately Aurora Santiago was there with her big camera  - the rest of her Tanabata 2013 are on flicr here (her other pictures of SJG are hanging in Tateuchi Community Room, along other winning pictures taken by SJG photo workshop attendees this spring).

SJG • 7/7/13 - Tanabata celebrations.  Photo by Aurora Santiago

Tanabata activities also included 'Experience the solar System' with Pacific Science Center's Starlab Planetarium, Origami folding with P.A.P.E.R (Puget Area Paperfolding Enthusiasts Roundtable) and Japanese Garden volunteers,  hands-on Japanese calligraphy with Meito Shodo Kai and decorating bamboo branches with hand-written poems, wishes and prayers.

SJG • 7/7/13 - All Those Born With Wings: music and dance inspired by the traditional
Japanese story The Crane Wife.  Photo by Aurora Santiago

Somewhere close to 4 pm, as I was strolling along the East path towards the gate, my guide's name-tag started to attract attention from a sudden flow of people,  rushing in quite purposeful manner and wishing to know where the dance performance area is....  Billed on the Program only as 'All Those Born With Wings: music and dance inspired by the traditional Japanese story The Crane Wife' (with no names attached),  was our own guide Joan Laage, with her Kogut- butoh ensemble (for their upcoming butoh performance see info below)

Announcements:

• 4th Annual Japanese Garden Party is Friday, July 26 • 5:30 pm. Tickets available at www.brownpapertickets.com.  If you are not able to attend but would like to donate, please go to www.arcseattle.org.   To view the full flyer go to google docs here....




• Joan's Kogut-butoh group will give us an annual Wandering and Wondering butoh performance 
 on Saturday, August 10, 2013  2-5 pm, in Seattle Japanese Garden. To view full flyer (description and names of musicians and performers) go to google docs here...

Post from Wandering & Wondering 2012 here.