Bon Dancing.. ?

Ever wondered about Japanese Dancing..? Well, I have, so yes.. I decided to do my next post on Japanese Dance, as I honestly have no clue about it =] So.. here goes..

In Japan, there are many traditional dancing, but the one of the most famous and common dances is the Bon dance, called "Bon Odori" in Japanese. People dance the Bon Dance during the Bon Festival, held every summer in districts and neighbourhoods in every city in Japan.
The dress worn in the picture is called a kimono, which is worn in many traditional Japanese dancing.
Bon week is held every year in August. The Bon Festival is held during Bon week. People gather in every city in Japan to dance to the traditional music. Everyone celebrating tries to create a happy,welcoming mood to try and make the ancestors come. The whole point of the Festival is to hold a memorial service for their ancestors and spend time with your family. Bon means welcoming ancestors' souls and holding memorial services for them.

As many Japanese people think that their ancestors will come during the night, The Bon dance is sometimes held during the night, like in the picture.


Bon Odori is usually danced by repeating the same pattern of a dance. As you can see from the video. It is very fascinating to watch.
Again, another interesting dance style.. from another region.. =]

Sources:
{Images} -
1) http://culturalacts.com/pictures/perform/1204528337_Kabuki%20and%20Japanese%20Dance_240x180.jpg
2) http://web-japan.org/nipponia/nipponia34/images/feature/20_05.jpg

{Video} -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du_2AqKzJN4

{Information} -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_in_India