Dance Allsorts presents Okinawan drumming and Japanese Dance

March 16th 2008
2pm Yuaikai Ryukyu Taiko
4pm Fujima-ryu Japanese Classical Dance
Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre (Davie at Pacific)
2pm performance: Pay-what-you-can
4pm performance: $10/$4
Info: 604.893.8875 www.newworks.ca

Yuaikai Ryukyu Taiko is a local ensemble performing folk dances from Okinawa, a southern island of Japan. Okinawa is well known for its lively folk dances featuring athletic dance choreography, which is performed while drumming on large and small hand-held drums. This one-hour presentation will include audience participation and interaction.

The 4 pm show features a nihon buyô performance of Fujima-ryu Japanese Classical Dance. Nihon buyô is the dance of the kabuki theatre and the dance of the geisha. It is character-driven, depicting story and mood, and always attached to poetic reference and image. Dancers wear elaborate kimonos and often carry beautifully decorated fans that transform into everything from falling leaves to sake bottles.

New Works is presenting its tenth season of Dance Allsorts: Vancouver’s most diverse dance series. Presented by New Works in partnership with the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, this popular, inexpensive series exposes audiences to all sorts of dance. The March edition of Dance Allsorts with Yuaikai Ryukyu Taiko and Fujima-ryu Olympiad. Japanese Classical Dance is produced in partnership with the Vancouver 2010 Cultural