How Popular is Dance in Japan?

[Hatori]

Hello, the title speaks for itself. Is taking dance lessons a popular thing to do in Japan for adults and kids? I'm not only talking about traditional dance styles, but things that are more modern, such hiphop or ballroom.

In America I know tons of children and teens that take lessons and perform for people. Many adults take lessons as couples, but I wanted to see how popular this was in Japan.

[becki_kanou]

I don't know for sure, but I believe that ballroom dancing gained in popularity a bit after Shall we ダンス? came out.

I personally know several people who are fond of ballroom dancing/ social dancing, as well as one professional ballerina, and one girl studying Nihon-buyo, and one woman who was taking a pole-dancing class. Also, for some reason hula dancing has beome quite popular with ladies over fifty, and is often offered at health clubs etc.

Hip-hop dance is quite popular with young people and I often see them lined up in front of windows and other reflective surfaces at night practicing their dances moves. The OCAT center in Osaka is one particularly popular place for this, and they even have a yearly dance contest if I remember correctly.

Anyway, these are all just personal anecdotes, but I'm sure if you googled you could probably find out some more actual data.

[two_heads_talking]

And here I thought the OP was asking about festival dances. Darn.

[Dehitay]

This might be more a coincidence than a trend, but 2 young Japanese girls I talked to online were taking up belly dancing. Neither one knew the other, so I'm guessing it may have some popularity.

I would say that dance in general is rather popular in Japan. My beloved capoeira is actually popular in Japan while not so many Americans seem to know what it is. And for those of you who don't know what it is, it's a martial art that basically incorperates dance.

[two_heads_talking]

This might be more a coincidence than a trend, but 2 young Japanese girls I talked to online were taking up belly dancing. Neither one knew the other, so I'm guessing it may have some popularity.

I would say that dance in general is rather popular in Japan. My beloved capoeira is actually popular in Japan while not so many Americans seem to know what it is. And for those of you who don't know what it is, it's a martial art that basically incorperates dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51q1VB_dDik IT's a Brazillian martial art .. it blends martial arts, dance and some playing or gaming if you will ..

Dehitey, are you required to play an instrument when you aren't singing or sparring?

[Dehitay]

This might be more a coincidence than a trend, but 2 young Japanese girls I talked to online were taking up belly dancing. Neither one knew the other, so I'm guessing it may have some popularity.

I would say that dance in general is rather popular in Japan. My beloved capoeira is actually popular in Japan while not so many Americans seem to know what it is. And for those of you who don't know what it is, it's a martial art that basically incorperates dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51q1VB_dDik IT's a Brazillian martial art .. it blends martial arts, dance and some playing or gaming if you will ..

Dehitey, are you required to play an instrument when you aren't singing or sparring?

No, but I kind of wish I did. That would mean I was part of a good capoeira school instead of the leader of a highly unpopular capoeira club at Texas Tech. Not only do I not have the instruments, I don't even have a way of playing music in the room I use for practice.

[Hatori]

And here I thought the OP was asking about festival dances. Darn.

tht, you can talk about festive dances. What I meant by "traditional" vaguely included festival dances.

I don't know for sure, but I believe that ballroom dancing gained in popularity a bit after Shall we ダンス? came out.

I really want to purchase that movie. I have the American version, but I want to see the original film. I watched it a few months back and it reminded me to ask about dance.

[two_heads_talking]

And here I thought the OP was asking about festival dances. Darn.

tht, you can talk about festive dances. What I meant by "traditional" vaguely included festival dances.

I don't know for sure, but I believe that ballroom dancing gained in popularity a bit after Shall we ダンス? came out.

I really want to purchase that movie. I have the American version, but I want to see the original film. I watched it a few months back and it reminded me to ask about dance.

From what I remember each Festival had it's own dances. And many of the community members would participate. Where possible, In the Tohoku area, I tried to participate in each of the Festivals that I could. Unfortunately, that didn't end up being very many.. I always found the Obone dances to be some of the most interesting.

[Hatori]

I always found the Obone dances to be some of the most interesting.

I've danced at Obone festivals a few towns over. It was so interesting, but I look absolutely stupid when I dance. Sadly, I wasn't able to go to any festivities this year, so, I missed out on some dancing.

I haven't really seen any other dances, though. I'd look something up on YouTube, but I'm one of the few people with dial-up nowadays...

[chikara]

.... I would say that dance in general is rather popular in Japan. My beloved capoeira is actually popular in Japan while not so many Americans seem to know what it is. And for those of you who don't know what it is, it's a martial art that basically incorperates dance.

Capoeira is popular in this country but I don't know any one who puts it in the "dance" category.

..... I haven't really seen any other dances, though. I'd look something up on YouTube, but I'm one of the few people with dial-up nowadays...

Try Googling ダンスホール

[chiisu321]

thanks to media, it's becoming WAY more popular.
A lot of young girls I know have started taking lessons or have formed hip hop groups in school and hired a local hip hop teacher to be the coach. They're getting REALLY good.
But, yea....the demand for such dance lessons is increasing, however slowly. Dance parties and such are RARE so people are more shy about dancing.
But, i live in a lower populated area. I wouldn't know, but I would assume in more international areas like Tokyo, it would be more appealing.

[ganbaru]

Summary
Dance is popular in Japan.

Dancing in Japan is one of the top 3 things kids wish to learn growing up by the natives.
(Piano/music being the first, I can't remember the 2nd, and 3rd is dance).

I'm not sure about which specific styles you are referring to, however Hiphop has a large community in Japan.
Dancers from all over the world come to take classes from Japanese dancers, whom have also learned from the pioneers of hiphop.

One thing I have noticed about Japanese culture, and interactions with my Japanese friends.
No matter what their passion is (dancing, playing in a bad, even playing sports) -- There is no room for mistakes.
Japanese will train their skill very hard to be the best they can. I've mentioned this to my Japanese friends and they agree. Japanese people are very concerned with the level of skill you have (I don't just mean foreigners, i mean amongst themselves.)

Getting back on track -- As long as you can locate a school or dancers of the style you wish to learn or train in, you'll probably find that you'll be quite disciplined to train along side Japanese peers. They want to do their best, and will want you to do your best too!

頑張ってね！

[OitaFish]

From what I remember each Festival had it's own dances. And many of the community members would participate. Where possible, In the Tohoku area, I tried to participate in each of the Festivals that I could. Unfortunately, that didn't end up being very many.. I always found the Obone dances to be some of the most interesting.

I was in this one last year:
http://www.oita-yeg.gr.jp/patchin/

They have on-line lessons for the dance here:
http://www.oita-yeg.gr.jp/patchin/2008/ ... sson1.html

It was fun but it was at the beginning of August and it was very hot.

[gracyna]

How much does it generally cost to hire a dance troupe for a wedding? I'm looking particularly for a swing group to perform, and possibly dance with the guests as well.
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