2018年08月24日
Chondara - An Important Part of Eisa
With the start of お盆 (obon) season in Okinawa, the streets at night become filled with 道ジュネー (michi junee) エイサー (eisa) performers and crowds of spectators.
The roles of the drummers, dancers, singers, sanshin performers, and flag bearers may be quite obvious but have you ever wandered what the man with the peculiar makeup is doing?
They are called チョンダラー (chondara) and one of the roles of the chondara is to entertain the spectators.
They make the crowd laugh by acting funny and invite them to clap along or do the カチャーシー (kachashi). Since it is believed that if a child is carried by a chondara, he/she will grow up to be healthy and strong, they also chase and carry children in their arms.
Another, and very important role is to act as the leader of the eisa group and support the members.
They clear the streets for the eisa, line up the performers and give cues to them to make sure that they are all in unison. After the dance they also give the performers water and fix their outfits and drumsticks.
Such skills require quite a lot of knowledge in eisa, so experienced eisa performers usually take the role of the chondara, but some eisa groups also have adorable children chondara as well.
So tonight, when you hear the drums and 指笛 (yubi-bue), or finger whistling, make sure to go out and watch the chondara, and you'll notice that he's not just out there to act like a clown!
You should be able to enjoy the 道ジュネー (michi junee) until ウークイ (ukui), the last day of obon season but if you miss it, you can also go to the Zento Eisa Matsuri which runs from August 31st to September 2nd.
The roles of the drummers, dancers, singers, sanshin performers, and flag bearers may be quite obvious but have you ever wandered what the man with the peculiar makeup is doing?
They are called チョンダラー (chondara) and one of the roles of the chondara is to entertain the spectators.
They make the crowd laugh by acting funny and invite them to clap along or do the カチャーシー (kachashi). Since it is believed that if a child is carried by a chondara, he/she will grow up to be healthy and strong, they also chase and carry children in their arms.
Another, and very important role is to act as the leader of the eisa group and support the members.
They clear the streets for the eisa, line up the performers and give cues to them to make sure that they are all in unison. After the dance they also give the performers water and fix their outfits and drumsticks.
Such skills require quite a lot of knowledge in eisa, so experienced eisa performers usually take the role of the chondara, but some eisa groups also have adorable children chondara as well.
So tonight, when you hear the drums and 指笛 (yubi-bue), or finger whistling, make sure to go out and watch the chondara, and you'll notice that he's not just out there to act like a clown!
You should be able to enjoy the 道ジュネー (michi junee) until ウークイ (ukui), the last day of obon season but if you miss it, you can also go to the Zento Eisa Matsuri which runs from August 31st to September 2nd.
Posted by Gushikami at 18:10│Comments(0)
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