Traditional dance and digital technology came together on Feb. 19, in a theater in Tokyo's Suginami Ward.
The Tokyo Koenji Awaodori dance festival is usually a signature summer event in the capital, drawing about 1 million spectators. In a normal year, more than 10,000 dancers parade through the Koenji district over a two-day period in August.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, the festival was canceled last year for the first time since its launch in 1957.
In an effort to vitalize the struggling local shopping district, the Tokyo Koenji Awaodori Promotional Board, a nonprofit group that organizes the annual festival, planned a stage performance in keeping with the "new lifestyles" amid the pandemic. Titled "Lights also dance: The Tokyo Koenji Awaodori plus," the event was held at the Za-Koenji theater in Suginami Ward.
Dancers energetically performed the Awaodori dance, backed by projection mapping that responded to the sounds of musical instruments and shouting.
"It was really fun to dance in front of an audience with live music and lights," said Mayumi Shimada, 50, a member of the Suzakuren group that participated in the event.
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