Voyage Junkie

Matt as the hungry crocodile. On October 16th, Matt and I worked our second English Concert.  It was great fun, and yet another opportunity for us to engage with the community in a meaningful way.  I was asked to choreograph another ballet, this time to "Think of Me," as part of the "Phantom of the Opera" skit.  I also played Tinkerbell in "Peter Pan," which involved a lot of flitting around and setting off the magic wand at opportune (and inopportune) times.  Matt made a star turn as the crocodile, then came back to play Monsieur Armand in "Phantom." Here I am, pointing out Peter Pan's hideout to Captain Hook (who also played Peter Pan's shadow) and Smee.  The wand, which I borrowed from one of the girls in the ballet, made a ridiculous musical sound when turned on.  I made sure to flip it on whenever I wanted to motion with it, so it rang out with each move of my hand.  Annoying?  Potentially.  Luckily, the skit (and my time in it

  Last year Matt and I spent some time watching these dancers, and I was lucky enough to see them this year, back on the same street!  They are called Awa Odori  dancers, and while I can't find much information in English that makes sense, there is a lot on various Japanese pages.  From what I can garner, there's a big festival each August in Tokushima.  It's 400 years old, and the dances celebrate the famous Awaodori forest.  Luckily for me, they bring the show on the road to Gifu every year, too.  For each group there's a video, as well as a picture, if you don't have a lot of time.  First up, subtle dancers in blue/green, that appear to be the trees as they wave in the wind. Next, here are some absolutely adorable men, mostly older, dancing a ridiculous-looking dance.  We saw the same men last year, which is where this picture came from.  I can see the growth of the forest as they move from crouching to standing,  and I can see birds when they wave t

Matt and I attended our second annual Nobunaga Festival, or matsuri , on October 2nd.  Rather,  I attended and Matt performed!  He was approached by one of our friends who works at City Hall about taking the role of Luis Frois, a Portuguese missionary who befriended Nobunaga in 1569.  He wrote histories of Japan while he was traveling and meeting with various Shoguns.  Matt jumped at the chance to be a part of the community in such a meaningful way, and he got to ride a horse! To the left is a wonderful picture of Matt with two of his new friends.  On the right is this year's Nobunaga, and on the left is the right-hand military man. Below is a video of Matt riding a horse that's pretty entertaining.  Evidently all the little old Japanese ladies positively fainted over him throughout the parade as he waved and smiled at little kids, waved to everyone, tipped his hat, and overall was the perfect (Jewish) Catholic. Pretty soon after watching Matt I headed to the Bu