Japanese Villagers to Lead Bon Dancing Workshops

Six dancers from the central Japanese village of Gujo Hachiman are in Los Angeles to lead a series of Bon dancing workshops in preparation for September’s Los Angeles Festival.

The dancers will teach their street “Gujo Odori” dance to members of local dance guilds in preparation for a large performance of street dancing that organizers hope will feature hundreds of Los Angeles dancers and participants in addition to about 50 dancers from Gujo Hachiman. The large-scale event is planned for the Santa Monica Pier on Sept. 15 or 16.

“The dancing is very easy to do; this is real simple stuff,” said L.A. Festival spokeswoman Lauren Deutsch. “There should be tons of people participating. . . . I don’t know what the capacity of the venue is--maybe a thousand, maybe two thousand. But with Bon dancing, the more the merrier.”

Deutsch noted that Gujo Hachiman is known for its all-night Bon dancing, which is held every summer, and that more than 10,000 people participate each year.

The Gujo Odori is one of Japan’s three major folk dance styles, and festival officials cited two local Japanese legends that explain its origin. According to one legend, the dance was started by a feudal lord in about 1624 to encourage communication between farmers, townspeople and warriors of Gujo Hachiman. The other legend says that another feudal lord started the dance around 1758 and that it has been practiced each summer since then.

All dance workshops are free and open to the public. They are scheduled as follows:

Today: L.A. High School for the Performing Arts, Cal State Los Angeles, P.E. Building Room 128, 1-3 p.m.; UCLA, Dance Building Green, 4:30-6:30 p.m.; Mario Casettas Folk Dance School, Colburn School for the Performing Arts, 3131 S. Figueroa, 8:30-10 p.m.

Thursday: L.A. High School for the Performing Arts, Cal State Los Angeles, P.E. Building Room 128, 1-3 p.m.; UCLA, Dance Building Green, 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Friday: Venshuji Buddhist Temple, 123 S. Hewitt, 7-10 p.m.

Saturday: Nishihongwanji Buddhist Temple, 815 E. 1st St., 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Information: (213) 689-8800.