MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hey everyone!

First off, apologies to everyone for not posting in a while! I wish I could say I had abducted by a giant sea serpant and held in an underground lair but in fact I'm just plain lazy!

But I just wanted to say MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL!

There will be lots of new posts soon!

Alexx

xx

Gion Odori 2006: Acts Two and Three

Act Two: Okome. Okome is the Japanese word for rice (before it is cooked). The geiko Mariko, dancing as a Shinto priestess for a plentiful harvest of rice in early spring. In January, maiko wear a stalk of rice in their hair to celebrate the new year.

Act Three: Shidarezakura. Shidare zakura (from sakura), or weeping cherry. Before the famous weeping cherries of Maruyama Koen, near Yasaka Shrine, an elder geiko awaits her true love until she is discovered by her younger sister .

Uh oh! She recollectin' ya'll! Reading an unusually long rabureta (love letter) in the absence of her beloved.


I know that correspondence is often recommended to encourage affection, but this is ridiculous sis!

Don't make me...

I love the beautiful bend of their hands, so limber and graceful. It reminds me of the Apsara dance of Cambodia...

Gion Odori 2006: Maneki

Masayo and Miharu.

The theme of this year's Gion Odori, the fall dance performed by the maiko and geiko of Gion Higashi, was "Seasonal Glories of the Maiko's Hanakanzashi," or flowered hair ornaments.

Masayo and Fumiki.

In December, maiko wear the maneki hanakanzashi. This dance depicted the maiko attending the year-end debut of Kabuki actors at the Minamiza theater. A young maiko overcomes her shyness to ask her favorite actor for his signature "with her big courage".

Masayo, the highest ranking maiko in Gion Higashi, dancing during the opening act of this year's Gion Odori: Maneki. This years theme was hanakanzashi, the flowered hair ornaments worn by the maiko. Each dance reflected the meaning and seasons in which each hanakanzashi is worn.

During Kaomise (from about Nov.30- Dec. 26) , the names of the performing Kabuki actors are written on long, wooden boards called maneki kanban, and hung outside the theater. Maiko attend the Kaomise (face showing) Kabuki performances, wearing these Maneki hanakanzashi. Two small, blank tags are attatched, and maiko ask their favorite Kabuki actors to sign them afterwards.


Fukimi and Miharu strike a Maneki Neko, or beckoning cat, pose.


Fumiki and Umeha.