It just had to be a day where the Chinese ancestor’s from the Ming Dynasty reunited with the Okinawan ancestor’s from the Ryukyu Kingdom; a reunion that took place in Texas on September 17, 2011 at the Sound Box Dance Studio; although, it didn’t seem like a reunion for those in attendance because they had never met before.
In the international scheme of things Shenzhen China and Houston Texas USA are sister cities. So when the world renowned Lily Choir form Shenzhen was planning a tour of the USA, performing in Houston seemed almost inevitable. Well, that and the fact Worldwide Stage, Inc. who sponsored the tour is also located in Houston.
As a break from the grind of touring; RMDTexas was more that happy to provide the members a little Saturday afternoon diversion with a fun filled Eisa Workshop.
After performing Kudaka for the choir, so they could get an idea of what they were going to learn, instruction began.
They started with the basic Eisa moves and positions. Then moved on to learning the first eight bars of the routine, then the next eight and putting them together; continuing in that manner they worked their way thought the entire routine in a surprisingly short amount of time. The members of RMDTexas were very excited to see how fast their new Eisa co-hearts from China had pick-up the dance and learned an entire routine.
Here is the video of RMDTexas and the Lily Choir performing Kudaka together for the first time. Although, with the instant camaraderie felt between the two groups and the ease in which the routine was taught and learned, one might wonder; was this the first time?
After the workshop, as the joyous sounds of laughter and conversation filed the room; the big picture of what was happening here started to become a little clearer. And with that realization one began to understand that, indeed, there was a reunion of a truly royal nature taking place that day; but it wasn’t between those in attendance. The reunion was between the two cultures represented by those in attendance; two cultures that had first forged a bond almost a thousand years ago; a bond in which China’s Ming Dynasty recognized the autonomy of the Ryukyu Kingdom and gave them the support needed for the Ryukyu Islands to become a strong independent seafaring nation. In this the Ryukyu Kingdom was able to find its place in the world as a bridge between all nations.
The bond forged all those years ago was so strong that even today, almost a thousand years later; its descendants still carry within their cultural DNA an affinity for each other. Making collaborations between two groups of total strangers, like this one, seem as if they have been working together for a thousand year - which, in a way, they have.
(To see all the pictures from the workshop, Go to the “Lily Choir Workshop” Photo Album on the sidebar.)
Comments