September 7th I attended the Japanese Fall Festival in Springfield, MO. Springfield has a sister city, Isesaki, in Japan and holds an annual festival. Saw some incredible dancers, and my favorite group, the St. Louis Osuwa Taiko drummers.
Another favorite act is the Uzumaru Yosakoi dancers. Yosakoi is a festival dance, and all Japanese children learn the basic steps so they can participate during festivals, when hundreds of people will perform the same dance.
A new one I saw this year was a pair of acrobatic performers using a Kendama, a child’s toy with three cups, progressively smaller, and a spike on top. As they danced, they caught the ball in one of the cups or on the spike on top. Looked next to impossible to me, and reminds me of the people who do amazing tricks with Yo-yos.
