{"id":18025,"date":"2020-02-15T22:38:13","date_gmt":"2020-02-15T21:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expoflamenco.com\/archivo\/?p=18025"},"modified":"2020-02-15T23:09:32","modified_gmt":"2020-02-15T22:09:32","slug":"conquering-japan-with-sevillanas-and-kimonos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expoflamenco.com\/archivo\/en\/international\/conquering-japan-with-sevillanas-and-kimonos\/","title":{"rendered":"Conquering Japan with sevillanas and kimonos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kymono Sevillanas<\/strong><\/em> is the title of the video which in just ten days has been viewed by thousands of people in YouTube. His creator, Japanese bailaor Ken Nagata<\/strong>, states his purpose in the first few seconds of the film through short, simple text messages: \u00abJapan has the second largest community of flamenco aficionados in the world. Yet, Japanese people don\u2019t know true flamenco. I want them to feel intrigued about\u00bb. That\u2019s a man\u2019s bold challenge. Making a video encompassing the whole of Japan. Flamenco in a kimono.<\/p>\n

The video, having a length of 20 minutes, required a lot of production work: over 770 people and 79 academies\/ensembles in dozens of cities all over the country. Ken Nagata gathered hundred of bailaoras<\/em> and a handful of bailaores<\/em> \u2014 a gender imbalance that has prevailed in Japan\u2019s flamenco for decades \u2014 to the sound of traditional sevillanas<\/em>: M\u00edrala cara a cara<\/em>,\u00a0Lo traigo andando<\/em>,\u00a0Cantaron a la Virgen poemas<\/em>\u2026 Flamenco guitars and pilgrims\u2019 piccolos are joined by violins, taikos<\/strong><\/em>, Japan\u2019s huge traditional drums, and shamisens<\/strong><\/em>, three-string instruments always present in Japan\u2019s classical music. It\u2019s the fusion, always popular with the younger audiences. The bailaoras<\/em> don\u2019t wear flamenco dresses, but kimonos. The sevillanas<\/em> are not danced in pairs. These are flashmobs like those at the Bienal de Sevilla<\/strong>, with varying degrees of technical skill.<\/p>\n

\u00abJapan has the second largest community of flamenco aficionados in the world. Yet, Japanese people don\u2019t know true flamenco\u00bb (Ken Nagata)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The video quality is excellent, and the locations are even better. From Tokyo\u2019s Tower to the deck of a river cruise in Kanagawa. From the volcanic sand beaches of Shizuoka to the impressive Osaka Castle. Forests, parks, alleys. A wine cellar in Yamanashi. And even an Andalusian village in Mie. Everywhere: Saitama, Chiba, Aichi, Nara\u2026 Even in the wounded cities of Hiroshima y Nagasaki.<\/p>\n

Ken Nagata is one of the few professional bailaores in Japan. He was awarded the First Prize in the 2013 Japan Flamenco Association Contest<\/strong>, unanimously receiving the vote of all twenty members of the jury, a first in this contest.\u00a0 In 2015 he made an autobiographical film titled Heart Wash \u2013 Flamenco in the Rain<\/em>, which was premiered in the Japan Expo in Paris. In 2018 he released the DVD Samurai X Flamenco<\/strong><\/em>, where Kan dances por alegr\u00edas<\/em> and por seguiriyas<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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