TOKUSHIMA, Japan - Awa Odori, one of Japan's signature summer dance festivals, opened Tuesday in Tokushima Prefecture, where about 600 performers from leading local troupes staged a joint show at a hall.
The opening day featured three performances. In one of them, dancers came down from the stage into the audience area, drawing enthusiastic applause and cheers from spectators who watched the powerful moves up close.
Open-air performances, the best-known part of the Awa Odori festival, will begin Wednesday and run through Saturday, with groups of dancers taking to the streets to lively traditional music, the organizer said.
Yasuko Kawamura, 74, who played the shamisen, a three-stringed Japanese instrument, said, "We practiced every night until around 10 p.m. while balancing work and other duties," adding, "I gave it my all but was nervous, so I'd rate it about 70 points."
Hiroshi Hirai, 68, a self-employed visitor from Yokohama who comes to the festival every year, said the performers "were full of energy, and I could tell they had practiced a lot."
