YUIMA-RU

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Textiles of Ryukyu, Okinawa

my Doton Ori obi (道屯織り）

I introduced lists of textiles created in Okinawa in my last blog entry; today, I am going to introduce some links related to the textiles of Okinawa, including one to Yomitan Hanaui, the village where I grew up.

Suprisingly, a TV program called "Tsurube no Kazoku ni kanpai" （鶴瓶の家族に乾杯）last week featured Yomitan village and the Gima area, and introduced Mr. Kinjo, a well-known carving artist who lives in Yomitan; the program also featured the Yomitan Hana Ori (Yuntan Zan Hana Ui in Okinawan language) factory (読谷山花織り工房). Here are some links for Ryukyu Textiles and Murasaki Mura in Yomitan, which offer many kinds of workshops of Okinawan cultural experiences, from practicing dance to making your own Kankara sanshin and Hana Ori.

Background of Ryukyu Kasuri (琉球絣黒潮のルーツを辿る旅）:
http://www.okinawabbtv.com/culture/kougei.htm
　
Textiles of Okinawa（沖縄の工房）：http://www.churanunu.net/info/index.html

Yomitan Mura Saki Mura Taiken Ohkoku (読谷体験王国村咲きむら）:　http://murasakimura.com/
Junko's pictures at the Yomitan Mura Saki Mura taken in 2005:

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Dress rehearsal

Today I did dress rehearsals of my Zo dance costume. This kind of kimono is worn by commoners with bare feet, because those kimono are usually worn for labor.

There are many textiles originally made in Okinawa Prefecture that are worn for plays and dances in Okinawa.

Basho-fu (Banana fiber cloth); (芭蕉布), Yuntanzan Hana-ui (読谷山花織)　(raised figure weaving), Shuri-ori（首里織), Shuri Basho-fu Kimono(首里芭蕉布着物), Doton-ori fabric （道屯織), Hanakura-ori ( 花倉織), Ryukyu-gasuri (琉球絣 ), Kume-jaima tsumugi (久米島紬 ), Miyako jofu (宮古上布 ), Yaeyama jofu (八重山上布 ), Yaeyama minsa (八重山ミンサー ), Yonaguni Textiles (与那国織 ), Yonaguni Hanaori ( 与那国花織), Yonaguni minsa（与那国ミンサー）
for details : http://www.ryukyutextile.com/

今日は、ドレスリハーサル。あんぐあーもうい（女性役）の化粧と髪結の稽古は久しぶり。

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Review of The Culture Convention 2011

Today's culture convention at the 2011 IYF World Camp held in Huntington, Long Island was like a smaller version of a Yomitan Matsuri (Festival) in Okinawa. (読谷祭り・毎年１１月開催） and it was held in a field with 20 or so tens of representatives of many countries not local vendors of the Yomitan Festival. My Okinawan dance was the first program of the field performance.

Here are some pictures taken from today's event.

Chinese Lion Dance

Latin America dance, Kalinca

Junko poses with Kama, martial arts weapon

Nunchaku performance

Japanese Katana performance

Oar performance

Amazing Korean dancers.

I learned how to dance batter fly fans.

Ready to perform.　

Thank you for inviting me to the World Camp. I hope to see you again!

Monday, August 29, 2011

Opening Ceremonry of the 2011 IYF World Camp New York

Tonight, I went to see the stage performance of the opening ceremony of the 2011 IYF World Camp New York held in Huntington, Long Island. The ceremony started at 7:00 pm. The 650-seat theater of the school was almost full, with an audience including young campers. All dancing was performed by mostly Korean young dancers. I was impressed that those dances are well choreographed and the dancers were well trained. Most of all, I was impressed by their passion to learn other countries' dances and demonstrate them at the opening ceremony to welcome young campers from all over the world. This is the first time to hold such a world camp in New York, and it was more well organized than I was expecting. I am so excited to join the stage program on Sept. 1st at their cultural convention day.

Please share some stage performances from tonight's opening ceremony.

West African dance, La Bonne Nuevelle