Sonia Siwa of the Paseo de Marianas Promoters Inc. said the Awaodori team members are constantly practicing at the Koblerville Learning Center under the supervision of Vernon-Lee Manglona.
“The Saipan Awaodori team will be dancing with the Tokyo Tensui Ren Group from Japan on April 16,” Siwa said.
She said the Tensui Ren Group is one of the most famous dancing teams in Tokyo.
The presence of these dancers will add color to the festival, she added.
The Ohayashi Band will perform the traditional Awaodori music.
“We would like to invite the community to come and join this colorful festival and support our local dancers,” Siwa said.
The team’s major sponsors are the Fiesta Resort & Spa, NTT Docomo Pacific and DFS Galleria in collaboration with the Marianas Visitors Authority and the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs.
In August last year, Saipan’s team of Awa Odori dancers went to Japan to represent the island in the two-day Awa Odori festival in Tokyo.
The group, composed of Jinky Kintaro, James Kintaro Jr., Norman and Freeman Defang, Bernadette You and Ronald Fitipol, worked hard to raise enough funds to pay for their airfare and allowance for the week-long trip to Japan.
Awa Odori is a festival held during the Buddhist observance of O-bon, the time when the spirits of the dead are believed to return to their ancestral homes.
