Obon Festival

Obon Festival Folk Dances

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend our local Obon Festival this past weekend.  Obon is a Japanese custom of honoring one's ancestors.  It's celebrated with wonderful food, arts and performances and dancing. The stately woman leading the dances above is Sahomi Tachibana, grande dame of Japanese traditional dance.

It was fun to wear a yukata (casual cotton kimono) with a fancy-tied obi (thank you MK!).  The orange fan is used for fanning as well as in some of the folk dances.  I even tried my hand at some of the dance, great fun!    

The wooden platform shoes are called geta.  They make a nice clack-clack sound when walking.  The ones shown below are covered in black lacquer.

Many people wore kimono and looked simply stunning!  It was lovely to see the young men and women dressed in bright blues and whites,with colorful obi.

And green Nike's.  ;-)  This young man is participating in a multi-generational folk dance.  How cool!

And now, the food...many delicious choices, including noodles, spam specialties and deserts called manju.

My friend MK was incredibly generous and made a bento lunch for me.  Delicious!  And to top off the day, I enjoyed shaved ice with guava and lychee syrup.

A wonderful day full of cultural treasures.

Temple of Heaven Park

Tai Chi in Temple of Heaven Park

One splendid day last September, I visited Temple of Heaven park in Beijing.  I was deeply moved by how people came together to "play Tai Chi", practice ballroom dancing, and to write beautiful Chinese calligraphy and poetry.  To move their bodies and experience nature in community.   

The man in the center above is a friend and former Tai Chi instructor of Dan, our tour organizer (black t-shirt, below).  Our group was encouraged to try Tai Chi, and the combination of cool breeze, warm sun, gently flowing body and energy, kind encouragement from new friends...well, truly it was like being in the temple of heaven!   

Practicing push hands, a technique that encourages attention, awareness and coordination

I met the DH (dear hubby) in a ballroom dance class 17 years ago.  Dancing holds a special place in my life, and I'm always interested in observing other dancers.  Much to my delight, people in China practice dancing in the parks!  I've thought many times in the past year about trying to get something like this going where I live.  My educator side also noticed how the instruction was being done.  Dance was being taught like a martial art - make the form, hold it, repeat, repeat, repeat.  It wasn't about constant movement but about body learning of the correct forms.   

Dancing in the Temple of Heaven Park

Below, a gentleman writes in  beautiful Chinese calligraphy.  Notice the large brush.  He is writing with water; this work of art is fleeting.  Joy in the doing.

Ephemeral art

My experience in Temple of Heaven park has returned to me often.  There are things to be learned here, and I am grateful for the opportunity.

A New Way to Serve Your Thanksgiving Dinner...

Happy Thanksgiving!  I thought you might want to consider this way of serving your Thanksgiving meal.  This was taken at a luncheon in Yunnan, China.  The servers are dressed in ethnic Yi clothing.

At this special lunch, we tasted several interesting foods including black-skinned chicken, a delicious pumpkin in sweet sauce, and white walnut juice (milk).  Donkey meat was also featured, as it is a traditional dish of this area, but I passed on that.  A few intrepid souls tried it, finding it gamey.

Here we are so that you can study the clothing in detail.

I'm so grateful I had the chance to take this awesome trip to China, Tibet and India! 

(To read all of my posts on this topic so far, click the "Asia Tea Tour" label on the right.)

Circle of Friends

Circle of Friends

I've been tracking moments of joy this year, and one thing's for sure...there are joyful moments each day when we stop to look for them.  There are also MOMENTS of joy, the kind that make you smile 30 years later.  Here's one of those, dancing with my "Circle of Friends". 

I have my employer to thank for bringing us together.  We four have seen each other through many work crisis moments and deeply profound life transitions.  This time it was to celebrate a wedding. The bride (second from left) was married on a ranch near Paso Robles, CA.  I will remember this joyful moment for the rest of my years!

Dragon Dance

Chinese New Year is here!  I'm thinking in the color red.  The festivities last two weeks, and our Classical Chinese Garden in Portland has something special each day. I visited the garden with a friend yesterday to have tea and watch a Lion Dance. Here are some lovely photos from the day.

 I loved the reflection of the red lanterns on the water.

Each dragon is made of two dancers...these were very talented children! 
Both boys and girls, and I was so impressed with their strength and agility.

Blues Dancing

I am forfeiting my self portrait today. I just didn't get around to it, as I have to be away from home most of the day. But I will make it up soon. In the mean time, the DH and I will be at a Blues Dancing workshop tomorrow. This form of dance may unfamiliar to many of you, so I wanted to take a moment to explain it.

"Like Swing dance, Blues dance originated and evolved from African rhythms and movements. However, Blues dancing was never widely practiced as a "social" or performance dance in the United States outside of the Black communities; so it developed and thrived in smoky juke joints and at Blues house parties and rent parties, giving it a more intimate feel." Read more here.

Blues dancing has a forbidden edge to it - it's sensual and evocative. It came from an era of repression - racial, social, and all kinds of other things. Even under the awful conditions of repression, thankfully the human spirit finds very inventive ways to express itself.

Here's a video clip from our instructor (the guy). Keep in mind, these folks are Pros! I can't even identify the "basic" step in this. The DH and I will NOT be looking like that after one day. So here's to some great music and loose hips! Warning: Chances are, this will get your blood pumping.

It Don't Mean a Thing...

If it ain't got that swing!

The DH and I love to swing dance! These photos are from a recent "fancy dance" where we were encouraged to dress in period clothes. My dress is new, but in 1940s style.

The Sexiest Thing Ever

The sexiest thing ever, to me, is a man who will dance. I'm a lucky woman!

Stephanie and the DH doing a triple-step (East Coast) swing.