Bon Odori Dance Videos

Bon Odori dances
The bon odori dance practice sessions at each of the Buddhist temples teach the same dances that are performed at each of the Bon Odori festivals, so if you plan to attend the Bon Odori in Seattle, but the Tacoma or Auburn location is closer to you, you do not need to drive all the way to Seattle to practice.

If you are unable to attend any of the bon odori dance practice sessions, you can still dance at Bon Odori! The dances are simple and repetitive, and you can have fun even if you don't know all the dance movements! If you would like to acquaint yourself with dance moves of some of the common bon odori dances, you can watch some videos. After fishing around the internet, I found some videos of dance practice for the Seattle Bon Odori, so these dances will likely be in the line-up! Some of the videos are hard to follow, but it at least give you a feel about what to expect. Happy practicing!

Nenbutsu Daiko
a taiko drumming song
Seattle practice video:


(This dance uses two taiko sticks, usually with red and white barber pole style striping. The girls at the dance practice said you can get a thick wooden dowel from the craft store, cut two pieces about 27cm long, paint them white and add a red spiral design with red electrical tape. Some of the ladies even had sticks covered in that new kind of duct tape that have cool patterns on it.)



Shiawase Samba
Happy Samba
Seattle practice video:



Oyama Ondo
Song of Oyama



Dai Hiroshima Ondo
Great Hiroshima Song
Seattle practice video:


Isson Ippin
Sorry, I can't find video for this one. This dance uses an instrument called naruko. They clack when you shake them lightly.

One of the dancers let me use these ones, the color is unusual, normally they are red with black and yellow clacker sticks. You can buy plain un-laquered ones at Daiso for $1.50

Hanami Ondo
Fireworks Song
Seattle practice video:

For this song, the dancers wear LED flashing rings on their fingers, to symbolize fireworks. The dance instructors said that they normally use one ring on each hand, but this year in Seattle many of the dancers are wearing 2 rings on each hand. Flashing rings are optional. Here is an example of some light-up rings:

You can probably find them in party supply stores or where ever you can buy cheap flashy toys.

Sakura Ondo
Cherry Blossom Song
Seattle practice video:

The dancers hold branches of cherry blossoms for this song. Here is a picture of the branches they were selling at dance practice:

You can use any cherry blossom branch you can get in the fake flowers section of a craft store. The dancers at the dance practice had them in all different colors (even dark purple!), and some girls tied pretty ribbons on the stems or silver tinsel mixed in with the blossoms.


Tanko Bushi
Coal Miner's Song
Demonstration video:
 
You can also see a better video here with subtitled instructions. This is the easiest dance to do.

Soran Bushi
Sorry, I can't find videos for this one. 

Goshu Ondo
I can't find practice videos for this one, just this one video from the Seattle Festival that is hard to follow.

Yakyuken Odori
Baseball Song, a tribute to Ichiro Suzuki. I can't find practice video, but here are other videos:
Video Link #1 (embedding was disabled, therefore I used a link)


Hanagasa Ondo
Flower Straw Hat Song
Seattle practice video:

This song typically uses straw hats covered in flowers, but may use sensu dance fans or uchiwa at our local bon odori.


Dai Tokyo Ondo
Great Tokyo Song
(this dance may use two uchiwa fans)
Seattle practice video:




Mikokoro
Sacred Heart (term referring to someone else's spirit)



Others:
These weren't one the list of songs I was given, but there are videos of them practiced locally, so I've included them for reference.

Fukushima Ondo
This is brand new this year, to honor Fukushima.



Seattle Bon Odori Samba
I think this is a samba they only do in Seattle