Goldies Debut as Geisha at District 67 Installation Ceremony

Geisha (芸者?) are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.

What a relief, we made it! Six goldies dressed like Geisha gave their debut at District 67 Installation Ceremony! When Sherry suggested that we did a Japanese dance at the District 67 Installation Ceremony, I questioned myself. Do I have the grace or composure for Japanese dance? What I know about Japan most was their food, after all we have so many Japanese restaurants here. I’d rather explore western culture if I had time and energy. Japanese dance? Are you kidding? I can only say two or three Japanese phrases. Not like Sherry and Linda, they have affection for Japanese things. I’ve seen Sherry wearing Kimonos and doing Japanese dance many times. Sherry even speaks Japanese fluently as well as she speaks English, and visits Japan at least once a year. Linda must be able to say some Japanese, too. Both of them have been learning Japanese dance for some time.

Well, if they had faith in goldies doing Japanese dance all together, why worry? I just left the headache to them. Linda chose two songs for the Japanese dance and made DVDs for all of us.
One requires grace, one requires nimbleness and liveliness. She borrowed some accessories from her friends for goldies like fans, Obis, strings, and tabis. Sherry provided us with all the kimonos, and some more obis, strings and tabis. Unbelievable! Sherry has such a big collection of KIMONOS and accessories!

Irene, Linda, Lydia, Michelle, Sherry and I made it this time. Kate and Pamela had to miss it. It’s simply too much a challenge for all the goldies to join every event. There was always one or two at least absent every time. Unexpectedly Pamela was finally able to show up at the Ceremony to cheer us up. Her presence excited all of us. We couldn’t chat long because of the dance to think about and to do. But she was there with us all along in the dressing room bringing us water, juice and yummy food from the feast table! She deserved a big hug!

We managed to rehearse, practice strictly speaking, three times. We did the final rehearsal on the stage shortly before the Installation Ceremony took place. I had been calm and playful before then. When the day finally came, I started to feel the stress and get nervous. Our dance was the opening show to curtain up the party hours. While waiting for the time to get on the stage after the final rehearsal, I feel butterflies in my stomach. I hungered for food to sooth myself. Linda helped us all put on kimonos. I was so touched and grateful wishing I had a handkerchief in my hand to wipe the sweat off her forehead. I was the first to get dressed, to calm my nerves, I distracted myself with cameras taking photos of every Geisha as they were dressing and when they were fully dressed.

Outside the dressing room, the ceremony was proceeding. We couldn’t poke our head out to take a look, just prick out our ears to catch a few words. District 67 Installation Ceremony is one of the big occasions every year. Before a T/M to be elected as the District Governor, he or she must have devoted a lot in terms of time, energy and knowledge. They made sacrifice in order to contribute and benefit others. Mike Yang, DTM, is from the same club that I belong to, the China T/Ms club. I had every reason to give my congratulations to him. We all are happy for him. There were around 10 members from the club to support and cheer him up.

Finally the party time and we were all ready. The Ceremony master was presenting us. No more nervousness or butterflies, we just enjoyed ourselves doing the dance. When we finished the 1st dance “NADASOUSOU”, cheers and applauses encouraged us. The 2nd dance ‘SeishunJidai’ became much easier. We saw a lot of cameras gathering down the stage. It really felt good standing in front of the flash lights and posing. We conquered the stage again!

Nadasousou http://www.youtube.com/user/azenng#p/a/u/1/9htVoEOqT6A
Seishunjidai http://www.youtube.com/user/azenng#p/a/u/0/h9o6aSbtFUo

We were far from professionals of course, but once again goldies had great fun throughout the process. Every day, being professional women performing our duties and doing our job, we still strive to explore different delights. We are happy because we want to be happy!

Trini
http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/taipeitmtrini/GeishaGaveTheirDebutAtDistrict67InstallationCeremony#