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Japanese dancers to fly in for Saipan Awaodori Festival
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Posted on Mar 28 2012
Fourteen professional dancers from Japan are expected to arrive on Saipan for the annual Saipan Awaodori Festival to be hosted by the non-profit group PDM Promoters, Inc. next month.
The visitors are members of the Tokyo Tensuiren Group, which is part of the Koenji Awaodori Organization, a group that performs during Awaodori festivals in Japan.
Awaodori festivals are celebrated with thousands of dancers performing the Awa dance to upbeat music and parade along the streets.
This year’s Saipan Awaodori Festival event, slated for April 19 at the Paseo de Marianas in Garapan, marks the 5th celebration of the festival on island, PDM Promoters’ Sonia Siwa told Saipan Tribune.
The annual event will coincide with the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs’ Garapan Street Market every Thursday.
Siwa disclosed that last year, PDM Promoters did not host the festival because of the Great East Japan or the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake on March 11.
She said the 14 visiting Awaodori dancers will perform with more than 50 members of the Saipan Awaodori Team.
The performers, who will have their traditional street dance along Paseo de Marianas to Coral Tree Avenue and parts of Beach Road in the afternoon, will perform for the crowd at the Paseo de Marianas at 6pm and 8pm.
Siwa noted that the group will have a pre-performance at 9am at Koblerville Elementary School, home to more than half of the membership of the Saipan Awaodori Team.
She said Saipan Awaodori Team members have been conducting “rigid practices” every Tuesday and Wednesday at the Koblerville Youth Center and every Friday at the Kinpachi Restaurant building in preparation for the festival.
“We are inviting the community to come and celebrate with us this enjoyable festival,” added Siwa.
For more information, call 234-6900.
