Gilroy
– As they emerged from first period Friday morning, Gilroy High
students were treated to a spectacle just about as rare as a leap
year day: fifteen Japanese high school students wearing kimonos and
robes, dancing in a ceremonial circle, as two students beat out a
rhythm on drums.
Gilroy – As they emerged from first period Friday morning, Gilroy High students were treated to a spectacle just about as rare as a leap year day: fifteen Japanese high school students wearing kimonos and robes, dancing in a ceremonial circle, as two students beat out a rhythm on drums. It was part of the annual visit from Takko-machi, a town which, as a major producer of garlic in Japan, is Asia’s answer to Gilroy. The 15 high school students will be staying in Gilroy until Wednesday, during which there will be plenty of cultural give-and-take wherever they go.
On the first round of the dance, Gilroy high students watched in fascination, visibly impressed by the complicated movements of the dancers. Then, during an encore, the GHS students were invited to participate in the dance themselves. Thankfully, the dance is called “Nanyadoyara,” which translates roughly to “do whatever you like,” so the improvised dancing styles of the Gilroy students were appropriate.
“It was a new experience,” said Gavin Heverdia, a freshman who joined in the dance until he had to rush off to his next class.
The Japanese students who performed the dance said it had taken them three months to learn, requiring daily practice at the Takko-machi high school, although they had seen the dance performed starting when they were very young. Aya Iwama, who at 16 is the oldest of the dancers, read a brief explanation of the dance and its origins to the crowd assembled in the quad.
“Gilroy High is very big compared to Takko,” she said afterward through a translator. Other students agreed, commenting that the campus was “very pretty.”
Micki Pirozzoli, a teacher at Gilroy High, personally invited the dancers to perform in her classroom. She had visited Takko-machi last summer as the 2006 Garlic Festival President.
“Words cannot describe the hospitality there,” she said. “To experience the culture in someone’s home, instead of just staying in a hotel in Tokyo, is wonderful.”
Pirozzoli wanted to return the hospitality, and is hosting a student during this visit. They are here on their annual trip to Gilroy. After leaving her class, the Japanese visitors were off to other classrooms, to teach students the basics of traditional arts like calligraphy and tea ceremony.
The students will be spending most of their time visiting other Gilroy schools, although they have the weekend to do “whatever they like” with their host families. Because the Gilroy High Chamber Choir is visiting Takko-machi later this year, the two groups will be spending plenty of time together during the week, strengthening the sister city relationship that was created 18 years ago.
