Chestnut Grove Academy: Field Trip #10 Friday Blog Hop

Field Trip Friday!

A Blog Hop designed to share 'FIELD TRIP' related Blog Posts

(does not have to be a 'home school field trip', can be any trip to any place with your children!)

Bon Dance

We were fortunate enough that the same month we studied Japan, the local Buddhist Temple held their annual Japanese Bon Dance.

as per Wikipedia:

The "Bon season" is an important part of the present-day culture and life of Hawaii. Bon Odori festivals are also celebrated in North America, particularly by Japanese-Americans orJapanese-Canadians affiliated with Buddhist temples and organizations. Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) temples in the U.S. typically celebrate Bon Odori with both religious Obon observances and traditional Bon Odori dancing around a yagura. Many temples also concurrently hold a cultural and food bazaar providing a variety of cuisine and art, also to display features of Japanese culture and Japanese-American history.^[6] Performances of taiko by both amateur and professional groups have recently become a popular feature of Bon Odori festivals.^[7]^[8] Bon Odori festivals are usually scheduled anytime between July and September. Bon Odori melodies are also similar to those in Japan; for example, the dance Tankō Bushifrom Kyūshū is also performed in the U.S. In California, due to the diffusion of Japanese immigration, Bon Odori dances also differ from Northern to Southern California, and some are influenced by American culture, such as "Baseball Ondo".

We had a really good time, and even went back the 2nd night. The lines for food were so long the first night, that we went early the 2nd night to get at the front of them! The food was good, I’m so glad we went back!!

It’s sort of like a line dance, that goes in a circle. You don’t need to know the steps, you just watch and follow the ladies in the center of the circle. Each dance repeats the same set of movements over and over, so it’s really easy to catch on. Some the dances include sticks or fans, and they provide them for everyone. Each dance tells a story about Japanese life.