Entertainment Feature:
Guest Entertainers from Okinawa
At noon on Saturday, two performances will add a sparkle of color,
sound and energy to the 26th Okinawan Festival.
Click here for the 26th Okinawan Festival
Entertainment Program.
Headlining Radio Okinawa’s contingency is
Tatsuya Shimabukuro, Radio Okinawa’s 2008 Grand Prix Miuta Taisho winner.
Tatsuya is considered as one of Okinawa’s
youngest, brightest minyou artists and he will grace the stage of the
Okinawan Festival. Tatsuya will be backed up by the Tsuneyasu Naka and
the Tokonatsu Band. They will be followed by thirty members of
Chatan-cho’s Eguchi Seinen Kai who will perform their dynamic eisa.
Reports are that, each member has participated in fundraising from last
year and everyone has been training nightly (in Okinawa’s heat and extreme
humidity) for hours for their dream performance in
Hawaii
for our Okinawan Festival.
Mamoru Miyagi is scheduled
to perform on the Festival stage at 2:40pm on Saturday and 2:45pm on Sunday.
His charming good looks and even mellower vocal renditions have wooed and
wowed our Festival audiences twice before and we’re so fortunate that he has
volunteered to share his talents with Hawaii.
Additionally, on Sunday, Tatsuya Yasuda
of Itoman
City will have a segment
with the Sosaku Taiko Ryukyu Yuihana group at 10:10am. Tatsuya Yasuda
performed with a Swedish circus as a clown. During his travels
throughout Europe, he realized that he knew very little about
Okinawa
culture. Hence, upon returning to Okinawa, he focused on learning
about his own ethnic culture and immersed himself in the study of sanshin,
music and the folk dances of Okinawa.
Since then, he has actively choreographed dances based on traditional themes
for his performances in Okinawa
and has created arrangements for other groups. His dream to introduce
Okinawa’s culture, Tatsuya-style, to the world was realized with
his energetic, solo performance at the 25th Okinawan Festival.
Be sure to see his renditions on Sunday.
HUOA extends its deepest appreciation to all of
Hawaii’s performing artists and groups and those traveling from
Okinawa
to generously share their talents in celebration of the Okinawan culture and
living the theme of “Sharing Uchinanchu Aloha” on August 30th and
31st. Ippee Nifee Deebiru to each and every one of
you!!
