The Arts

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Recently I've become a bit of a patron of the arts. Most of my weekends until the end of March are dedicated to the annual Tokushima JET musical, Treasure Island, which we'll perform for our students, their parents, Japanese teachers and friends.

As for my artistic contribution, I've choreographed some of the dancing (including a dance to Hard Knock Life from Annie) and will be playing Penelope, the ship captain's long lost sister who is marooned on a desert island with a crew of ninja worshippers. During my entrance, I'm carried onto the stage on a wooden stretcher while the ninjas grovel.

My new theatrical endeavors also inspired me to take a trip to Osaka to see the Takarazuka perform Romeo and Juliet. The Takarazuka is an all women's musical troop who take on all of the roles themselves, and do an incredible job impersonating men. The "male"-female duets were especially unique and beautiful because the male roles sing much lower, but still have a female quality to their voices.

Each performance ends with a glitzy, over-the-top dancing review that I can only imagine is what musicals were like in the '40s and '50s. Headdresses, feathers, glitter and the can-can immediately followed Romeo and Juliet's double suicide - amazing. In fact, glitter was as integral a part of the show as either Romeo or Juliet, and so were the intricate, fabulously flashy costumes that involved, true to Japanese style, tiny top hats and mini cupcake dresses. I was told that many of the Takarazuka actresses go on to be famous TV and movie personalities.

This weekend I also explored a different aspect of the artist in me. Between Saturday and Sunday rehearsals in the western sticks of the prefecture, we spent the night in log cabins in the mountains and celebrated "Burns' Supper," in honor of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Almost everyone prepared a poem to read to the group after a potluck dinner, and we all sat around on our tatami mats and listened. The readings spanned everything from Shakespeare to Miley Cyrus, performed in dramatic and interperative fashion.

I read a poem that I wrote myself, which I think was a scarier experience than the first time I flew in a cheerleading competition. I turned bright red and had to leave the room afterwards, but I survived.

So, while my life starts to resemble that of a true bohemian, I'm only sad that I'll be missing the Oscars this year - and even sadder that I will be missing my annual champagne and ballots Oscars party. But this weekend I was able to see "The Social Network" (or, "Za Soshyaru Netowaku," as it's written in Japanese katakana) which just came out in theaters in Japan. I LOVED it, and have my fingers crossed for it to win best picture if for no other reason than I won't have seen the other nominated movies.

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Comments

[Mom]

Hi, I love to read your blogs. I especially like seeing my coat in Japan! I feel like part of me is there with you. You are really seeing Japanese culture and a bit of culture from the other JETS' countries. xoxoxoxoxooxox