Yosakoi

The courses at Kanazawa University allow for a lot of leeway outside of the classroom. Or, rather, there's almost no work (at least, no work associated with my program. There are exchange students over here busting their asses each week on account of homework and presentations/papers.)

So what do I do? I fill my time with club activities. The circles and clubs here (I think I've already explained them) represent a large part of the student life. People function perfectly fine outside of these organizations, yet the groups make it much easier to meet others and they give you a good way to fill out your schedule if need be. The seriousness varies, of course, with some groups simply being a front for people to meet up and go drinking with each other, whereas other groups practice hard.

One group I am in, 8-street, falls into the latter category. The people in this group (for the most part) are there to step it up. There are members within the group that only practice come performance time and they are needed, but the core of the group comes to each practice and, more often than not, also practices on off days. 尊敬

The other group that I am in, Kanazawa Irodori, is a Yosakoi (traditional Japanese dance) group that is somewhat less serious than 8-street in terms of its practice schedule, yet just as serious and responsible when rehearsing.

Well, recently – cough, 3 weeks ago and I'm slow at updating, cough – I entered my first competition with the team.

O_O

That shit was ridiculous. To my understanding we were competing within the prefecture, yet there were some outside teams that came for experience and/or as guest performers. The others teams were all enthusiastic and painted up in whatever style/look they felt matched their dance. Many teams had intricate costumes that looked like they cost an arm and a leg, or at least as much in terms of time and effort if they were handmade. I'm talking about over the top, carefully crafted designs.

Most teams used costumes that could be altered during the dance itself, either offstage or mid choreo. From a practical side, it was intriguing to see how each team dealt with these changes. Some teams, such as our own, had each person just took off an outer layer and tie it around their waist. Other teams completely stripped down into a second costume. Still yet there were some with these complex costumes that could be worn inside out or normally, changing the design. Would make the Transformers proud.

*Snaps to all the teams*

Before I actually describe the competition, let me tell you a little about Yosakoi, just in case you don't know/haven't looked it up yet on youtube. Yosakoi is a large group dance that does not focus on solos whatsoever, yet on the larger image of how the group looks. The choreography is not too daunting, but that's not the point; the real eye-catching part of Yosakoi is the formation, and the way it changes throughout the performance. In fact, we danced the exact same choreo in each part of the competition, yet changed the formations for each round.

And while I didn't think too much of it in the beginning, when we got near the competition and started practicing in a studio with mirrors, I really got an idea for how much the dance itself is affected. It was underlined even further when seeing the other teams perform from round to round. Even though I knew for a fact that these teams were dancing the same choreo, which I had already seen at least once or twice, the danced looked new each time. 

Well, now that kind of have an idea of Yosakoi, let me get on to the competition.

The first round we chilled in the audience, watching the other performances, waiting for our chance to go on stage. The first groups were quite impressive, setting the bar high for the rest of the teams. No worries, we can handle it.

Soon our block is up and the groups step up, perform, and step down one after another. And then there we were, walking onto the stage, disappearing into the wings of the stage waiting to run out.

 -- OH, that's one more thing about Yosakoi. You yell your heart out. You yell and scream and hit those moves until you feel ready to puke and there are black spots in your eyes. It's one hundred percent for those 3-4 minutes, and it's exhilarating as shit. There's just something about releasing an animal bellow with 20 other people, all because you want to let the audience know how much you give a shit, how much you practiced, and how much effort you're putting into it. --

But yeah, the song comes on, the first group breaks onto the stage, then everyone comes on for the first  full choreo. And then it's over. Of course, there are points between the beginning and the end where you think to yourself about where you are and what you're doing, but those moments are soon shunted off the sharp side of your consciousness by the pressing matter of ACTUALLY FUCKING PERFORMING. And when you're doing that there isn't anything else. Remember to smile, watch your foot, drop now, spin then, stick the ending and wait until you bow and walk off stage.

And we passed the first round. We progressed.

All good for now, but we knew we could do as much. The next round would really make us bear our teeth. 

The way the tournament unfolded after the initial "pool" rounds was that two teams from each block were selected, while a third team from each block was given "wildcard" status by luck of the draw through lots. The selected teams would enter into a normal, single elimination bracket. We were in the top 2 for our block so there was no nail biting or agonizing waiting to see if we drew into the next round. And, knowing we had advanced, we sat a little easier, talked a little more friendlier, but only for a bit. After our opponent for the 2nd round finished their dance we saddled up to the stage, poised to give it another go.

And this time everyone seemed to give it a little more oomph. That extra .00001%. Personally I was feeling the pangs of nervousness and perspiration, and cringed doubly when I miffed on a part of the choreo that I had always taken for granted, yet all together, as a group, it was good. We had all managed to deal with changing the formations for this round and it looked hella good. The final notes of our song finished, we held our poses, the announcer told us to stand in our groups and wait for the decision....... and...... we lost? Did we? We can't quite tell what the hell is happening because the judging staff is using this convoluted system of cards marked with 1 or 2 on them to declare winners. Now they're holding up 2. Are we 2? Is the other team 2? A couple members from our team murmur to themselves, apprehension rises, murderous intent over this lackluster clarity boils....

And it's us. *fist bump*

We rode that wave of jubilation to the next round and beyond, stomping our feet and shouting till our vocal chords cried for mercy. Not really a cry, I suppose, but more of a whimper. And although we were poised for rounds 4, 5, 6, the fucking world, the solar system, GALAXY WIDE COMPETITION, BRING IT ON ALIENS, we lost in the 3rd round to the team that ended up taking second. Bitter as tarnished silver, that loss.

It was alright, I suppose. No one really expected us to go that far, within our team or outside of it. Kanazawa is a very middle of the pack school, with a pretty fresh faced team, myself especially so. And yet we rocked it, so fuck yeah for us. Wait till next time Ishikawa-Ken (our prefecture), we're gonna turn you on your head.

The bus ride home after the competition was a mix of sleepy excitement, soft smiles and chocolate someone had brought for the team. Pretty good atmosphere. Pretty good day. Pretty good people.

Peace.