Chindonya Performance (12th Aug)
In support of the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), we had the opportunity to invite Chindonya Tsushinsha from Osaka– a walking Japanese street performance group who musically advertised SIFA’s Dance Marathon: Open with a Punk Spirit! from 21st August to 5th September.
‘Chindonya’ are a combination of three terms, ‘chin’ – representing the sound of symbols of the Chindon drum (a drum specially crafted and played by the group), ‘don’ – representing the sound of drums and ‘ya’ – a suffix which equares to ‘-er’ suffix in English.
Over the course of three days from 12th to 14th August, the group performed at three venues the first stop, Drama Centre Theatre National Library Building as the opening ceremony of SIFA. With the chief performer, Mr Kojiro Hayashi leading the march alongside Ms Fumika Akae– a traditional Japanese dance performer and Mr Shinnosuke Kobayashi – a clarinet professional, marching around the library adorning their unique traditional Japanese costume.
The group introduced programmes at SIFA , performing the ‘Nankin tamasudare’ (a traditional Japanese magic trick utilising a bamboo sheet) capturing the attention of the crowd. Nearing the end of the performance the Chindonya were honored to perform in front of Minister Tsutsumi and Minister Lawrence Wong during the reception of a theatrical performance, ‘Returning' on 12th August.
The next performances on Thursday and Friday, 13th and 14th August had the group at the vicinitity of Block 204 Marsiling Lane and Victoria Theatre. The crowd, having never experienced a live traditional Japanese performance had the opportunity of engaging with the performers. Truly a locally extraordinary encounter that none would ever forget.
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