Cross-Cultural Bon Odori: Two Day Workshop
Cross-Cultural Bon Odori is a two-day workshop celebrating Japanese traditional dance and culture through knowledge, movement, and inquiry.
Part seminar and part dance workshop, Cross-Cultural Obon introduces an important holdiay in Japanese culture, thereby challenging notions of both rarefied tradition and hyperkinetic modernity that most Americans have about Japan.
Participants will dive deep into the history and philosophy of obon, the annual Buddhist holiday commemorating one’s ancestors that culminates in a dance festival whose music and dance styles that gradually morph throughout different locations in Japan. Over both nights, we will learn the two dances from one of its festivals: the Nishimonai Festival of the Dead, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage site considered one of the “Big Three” obon dances in Japan, and one of the oldest (stretching back to the year 1200).
Cross-Cultural Obon is for anyone curious about Japan beyond the entry points of, say, anime or samurai; it’s also for anyone interested in re-framing their relationship to embodiment through cultural heirloom that, as a celebration of life beyond the limits of 3D reality, need not be practiced strictly within the limits of the Land of the Rising Sun.
Program
This is a two-day workshop held on Wednesday, August 19 (6–8PM) and Thursday, August 20th (6–8PM).
The first forty-five minutes of each session will be dedicated to the history of obon in Japan, followed by the specific history, culture, and musicality of the Nishimonai Festival of the Dead. The rest of each class will be spent learning the two dances of the festival, which naturally beget a trance-like meditation on self, ancestor, and body.
Learning Outcomes
Learn about Japanese culture from a unique vantage point
Engage with your body through ancient movement
Embody a fascinating tradition in a uniquely cross-cultural context
Foster community with other participants through the power of dance
Instructor Bio
Jillian Marshall, PhD, is a writer, educator, musician, artist, and dancer based in Brooklyn, New York. After earning her PhD in ethnomusicology from Cornell University in 2018 (where she synthesized over a decade of participant-observation in bon odori across the archipelago), Jillian moved to New York in pursuit of creativity and a more public intellectualism. Her first book, JAPANTHEM: Counter-Cultural Experiences, Cross-Cultural Remixes (Three Rooms Press, 2022), catalogs both her musical experiences in Japan and exit from academia.
Scholarships
Index scholarships are designed to benefit members of our community who do not have expendable cash to pay for the course, and those for whom the class price is not accessible. These need-based scholarships will go to the candidates who best demonstrate why they should be chosen for the free spot to our class based on the following criteria:
Belong to groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the graphic design and creative industries
Do not have jobs that would pay for these courses as professional development
Cannot independently afford the class at list price
Share our value of intentional community
The number of selected applicants chosen is subject to the discretion of Index and the instructor, but every course will select at least one. Apply for a scholarship here. Applications close August 12th.
Refunds
We get that things come up, but we rely on headcounts make our programs viable. If you request a refund...
More than 4 weeks before the program begins → 100% refund
More than 2 weeks before the program begins → 50% refund
Fewer than 2 weeks before the program begins → No refund
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