Had I any snarky mocking tendencies, which I do not, I would find a treasure trove of things to make fun of in the Nagoya Domatsuri Festival that took place this weekend. Thousands of people come in hand-sewn flashy costumes with dance moves they have practiced in front of mirrors all over Japan. If you go out at night, it is not hard to find teenagers intensely rehearsing their "big finish Broadway dance moves" outside in the reflections of glass buildings. Half of me is always psyched that they are doing what they want and not so cynical as to need to stand and make fun of how into something they are while being so remarkably mediocre at it. The other half of me is standing there making fun of how into something they are by while being so remarkably mediocre at it. OK. More than half of me is making fun.
The parade goes down a big wide avenue on both sides of the street. Dance teams of up to 100 or so do this big crazy dances that look really hard and complicated. It was roasting hot this weekend, so they must have been dying in their satin costumes. Each dance troupe follows a truck float with 1-3 people on top screaming into the microphones things like "ARIGATO GOZIMAS" and "KONICHIWA" and what I would guess, if I spoke Japanese would be something like "WE ARE THE DANCE TROUPE FROM HOKKAIDO. WE LOVE TO DANCE AND SING AND SHARE GOOD TIMES TOGETHER! YEAH! WE ARE CONSTANTLY HAPPY AND VERY VERY VERY HIGH ENERGY! SOMEBODY PLEASE PRESS THE OFF BUTTON ON ME! IT IS ON MY BACK ABOVE MY BUTTOCKS ON THE LEFTHAND SIDE! HELP!"
We lasted about 30 seconds at this parade. See the video below.
2 comments:
You got something against hand-sewn flashy costumes and big finish Broadway dance numbers...and practicing mediocre dance moves in front of a mirror? Huh? Don't knock it 'til you try it, Jenny. From the looks of that parade, I would have loved it.
Yes... The Camel Toes would have been in hog heaven.
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