The 1st day of Hiro's event, the 12th Tokyo Crazy Country Dance Festival....
We didn't have to rise too early this morning, but we did all go for breakfast before the breakfast area closed at 10am.
Right after breakfast, I excused myself so that I could go use the hotel's one and only computer located in the lounge. I had brought my Ipad along hoping to be connected whilst in Tokyo but alas, the hotel does not have wi-fi nor does any of the nearby shopping or food outlets. The hotel provides free internet service in every room, but you need the regular laptop to plug in the cable provided. Sigh....I lugged the Ipad across part of the Pacific Ocean for nothing. Anyhow, thank goodness for the one computer in the lounge. At least I could check my emails and updates on Facebook everyday.
At about 11am, Niels, Hsiao Ling, Yuki & I got into a taxi and headed for Ikegami Kaikan Hall. Today, Niels will be conducting a lecture titled 'My Way Of Choreography' from 2-4pm. He had prepared 13 points to share with us. I'm glad I booked my ticket to arrive in Japan 2 days earlier instead of Friday (as initially planned) because I would have missed this lecture as I'm sure I'd have been too sleepy/tired to attend it. It was a good lecture, well-prepared and shared by Niels, and I learnt a lot. We all did.
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| Niels putting a point across |
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| Paying full attention to what Niels has to share.. |
Because we'd had a heavy breakfast, we opted not to have lunch until after Niels' lecture at 4pm. From the hall, Yuri, Niels & I walked to a nearby shop for some local fare..udon in soup. Yummy! Hsiao Ling didn't join us as she wanted to help with the setting up of the hall for the next session, which is the dance workshop. So we ordered a take-away for her. Luckily the shop was willing to oblige us as they don't usually cater for take-aways.
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| Niels and Yuri |
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We had some time while walking back to
the hall...couldn't resist this sakura tree within
the temple grounds. |
Registration for the second part of today's workshop (dance teaches by Niels and Yuki) started at 4:30pm. Dancers began to arrive and fill the hall. Meanwhile, Hiro played several tracks for open dancing. The dance workshop this evening caters for the Inter/Advance and Advance category, so the number of participants weren't as many as the next two days'.....2nd day for Beginners and 3rd day for Intermediate level dancers.
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| Open dancing |
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The instructors were formally introduced to the participants by Hiro,
with a brief background on each instructor. Yuri (in purple top)
translated for Niels & I. |
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| Niels taught Love Trouble & Stealing Apples |
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| Yuki shared Tomorrow |
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| With Martha Ogasawara from Osaka |
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| With Miho, who also choreographs. |
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| Happy participants of the 1st day 12TCCDF workshops |
We ended the day at 9:30pm and a group of us headed back to the hotel to drop off our stuff, then on to dinner. Niels suggested we try the Korean restaurant near our hotel. He had tried it a few days ago and highly recommended it.
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| Cheers! |
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Can't remember what this was but it had cheese in it
and tasted really good! :) |
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| All cameras out. Ready, Set, SNAP!! |
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| Cooking our dinner |
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| Bar-b-q-ing veggies. Looks a little overcooked lol! |
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| Niels and Michiko toasting each other with sake. |
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| Hmmm.....good wine, yes? |
Dinner was good and the company was fun. We laughed a lot, ate a lot and toasted a lot... :D
We had fun cooking the meat and veggies over the grill provided, so much so that we sometimes forgot to monitor them and some veggies turned to a crisp...LOL! Yuki's grill caught fire while she was tending it and the meat on top got a real toasting. That put us in stitches too watching her antics.
Our tummies full, our hearts happy and our feet aching from all that dancing during the day, the group walked back to the hotel, just around the corner, calling it a night...in anticipation of another wonderful day tomorrow.
Next: Official opening day of 12TCCDF at Omori Bell Port
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