International Cultural Presentation: Okinawa Traditional Performing Arts

Description

FIRST TIME EVER IN SANTA ROSA COUNTY (MILTON)  Santa Rosa Arts & Culture Foundation present an International Cultural Presentation! Florida Okinawa Kenjinkai (Gajimarukai) is an education oriented cultural club with the goal of perpetuating and advancing the Okinawan heritage through cultural performing and visual arts at home, groups, local schools, festivals and other community events. With the support of the Santa Rosa Arts and Culture Foundation, the Florida Okinawa Kenjinkai (FLOK) is very excited in the bringing Okinawa Culture Week to celebrate the club's 15th anniversary in November of this year. As members of the Japan American Society and as its own Okinawan cultural organization, members are celebrating by sharing their culture with the public in a grand style through its traditional performing arts. After a 3 year endeavor of international requests, Okinawa's premier performing arts group, Team Kizuna, will be coming to Milton, FL (the City Where Good Living Flows) to give a taste of Okinawan culture by its Grand Masters! This international travelling troupe of 15 grand master musicians, dancers, singers, hair and makeup artist, and manager make up Team Kizuna. Okinawa Cultural Division?s previous traditional performing arts teams have travelled worldwide for over a 160 years under various team names. Past teams of Okinawa Culture Association have travelled to Belgium, Czech, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, America, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Finland, Guatemala, Dominica, Chile, Hungary, Tunisia, France, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Canada, State of Bahrain, Syrian Arab Republic, and United Arab Emirates. Their level of mastery and fame is comparable to the class of the Vienna Boys Choir of Austria or the Royal Shakespeare Company of England. Team Kizuna is a recently formed team of grand masters. This is a special treat for North West Florida and especially to those interested in cultural event or the performing arts. Team Kizuna has graciously agreed to give a 2 hour concert to the public on Saturday, November 14th at 2pm at the Santa Rosa County Auditorium, (4530 Spikes Way, Milton). This venue is sponsored by the Santa Rosa Arts and Culture Foundation. The name of the 15th Anniversary Celebration event is called Utati, Wuduti, Hanayakasa! (which translates to mean) Lets Sing, Lets Dance, Lets Celebrate!  Master musicians of the sanshin, koto, kokyu and drum will provide the live music for the professional singers and dancers to bring a bit of the traditional Okinawa to Northwest Florida. Most of these professionals are Grand Masters of their own schools, so we are in for a real treat! Tickets have been subsidized to only $25 per person at the event door with a $5 discount for advance purchase. Call Akiko Suzie Daniels 850-994-4890, Asako Morton 850-994-1640 or Hideko Margie Baldwin 850-324-2905 for ticket purchase. The best of Milton High School MTV students will also provide the main production on Saturday with audio video technical operations and post production DVD editing as their group project prior to going to their state competition. The Imogene Theatre has opened its doors to the public for free, the Milton City Council and Mayor have planned a City Proclamation honoring November 12th-19th as Okinawa Culture Week and various other nonprofit groups are also getting involved. Because of the stature of Team Kizuna, local businesses, groups, individuals, state government representatives, the Japanese Consul from Miami and people from all over the United States in other Okinawa Kenjinkais have been invited and many have already reserved hotel rooms and purchased airline and performance concert tickets to attend this rare opportunity. The Santa Rosa Arts and Culture Foundation (the Local Arts Agency), Santa Rosa and Escambia County Tourism Development, Santa Rosa Historical Society, Japan Center at UWF, City of Milton, radio, TV and other organizations are all supporting this event. Although Okinawa is proudly part of Japan, the disappearing ancient language of Uchinaguchi is quite different from the typical Japanese. The music, songs and dances are unique to the Okinawa islands. The special two hour performance will be the traditional stage production of the Ryukyu minyo (Okinawan folk music) and buyo (dance) by the masters. Workshops and short demo programs are being coordinated for children, students and seniors in our continuing effort to share Okinawan culture in our local communities in full endorsement and participation by our visiting grand masters. Workshops are only a snippet sampling of the concert on Saturday with direct focus on education and considered as extended supplements to the main performance concert. Imogene Theatre owned by the Santa Rosa Historical Society will host the first demonstration and educational workshop for the public on Monday, Nov 16th at 11am-12noon. This program is FREE and targeted to honor the seniors of Santa Rosa County. University Pines has been selected to represent the seniors of Escambia County on Tuesday, Nov. 17th at 11am-12 noon. The primary reason for both workshops targeted for seniors and children was at the request of Team Kizuna to show their respect for elders in the community as they do at home in Okinawa. Children are always loved, included and welcomed in all cultural events. A special 2 hour workshop has been coordinated for Monday 3pm-5pm at the University of West Floridas Conference Center (ABC). This special extended workshop will allow hands on demonstrations in small group environments in addition to stage demonstrations of the traditional performing arts. The UWF workshop is FREE and open to the staff and students of UWF, Japanese American Society and the general public interested in cultural activities. A group bus day trip to New Orleans has also been chartered through Good Times Tours for Sunday Nov 15th from 7am-10pm for the enjoyment of our out of town visitors. Discussions to stop in Biloxi for a short visit on the way back has ensued, but not yet confirmed. The first bus load of 55 travelers have been filled and booked already. The second bus is on standby with a waiting list to reach its minimum attendees before booking. The price for the group bus day trip is only $40 per person. Our basic plan looks like this:  Thurs, Nov 12th Arrivals (performers arrive late evening) Fri, Nov 13th Site reviews for performers of Imogene Theatre, UWF Conference Center, University Pines and rehearsals at the Auditorium  Sat, Nov 14th Final dressed rehearsal & Concert : 2-4:30pm with meet & greet for our single day visitors 5pm continue meet & greet over dinner at Ryans Buffet (taste of typical America for our Okinawan visitors)  Sun, Nov 15th 7am  10pm Day Trip to New Orleans (Chartered Bus & Driver)  Mon, Nov 16th Workshops w/ Short Program Demos in Milton & UWF Intimate Appreciation Pot Luck Dinner, Milton Garden Club (limited to the first 125) Bring something to share  mixed culture of foods expected This is more of a casual intimate Okinawan family styl party/jam session with food, music & dance  Tues, Nov 17th Workshop: University Pines (Holiday Retirement) workshop & NAS Navy Air Museum, visiting & dining at our Beaches.  Wed, Nov 18th Free day to have FUN exploring & shopping! Dinner at Lamberts for a different southern food experience.  Thurs, Nov 19th Departures & GOOD WISHES IN APPRECIATION The Florida Okinawa Kenjinkai membership is small in number, but are a very involved group of Okinawans in the NW Florida serving communities from Pensacola to Tallahassee. We love to have fun and share our joy with others freely. Please join us. If you cannot, please consider supporting this event by donating, volunteering or attending any and or all of the activities planned for this event. Contact Margie Baldwin 850-324-2905 for anything beyond ticket purchases. FloridaOkinawa.Kenjinkai@yahoo.com is the email account created just to handle inquiry and communications for this event. Asako Morton and Akiko Suzie Daniels are both bilingual (Trilingual if you count Uchinaguchi) for those more comfortable speaking their native tongue with their inquiries. Detailed program lineup will be released in November closer to the date of the concert, but the concert flyer and Team Kizuna Profile one sheet are available on facebook page under Florida Okinawa Kenjinkai (events) for your info and sharing. We thank you in advance for your support and encouragement. This event is fully endorsed by the Santa Rosa Arts and Culture Foundation, the countys local Arts Agency.