Topic: Event
Annul New Year’s celebration Kotohajime at Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Los Angeles features the first arrow shooting by its Artistic Director Hirokazu Kosaka. Music and performance in a mix of modern and tradition accompany the arrow shooting ritual. (Photo courtesy of JACCC)
The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Los Angeles announces that Kotohajime, its original annual New Year performance and celebration, will take place on Sunday, January 7, 2007 from 1 p.m. on the JACCC Plaza. The public is cordially invited to join the festivities.
Hatsu Warai: First Laughter is the theme of this year’s celebration and is reflected in the original performance created by artist and JACCC Artistic Director Hirokazu Kosaka.
“The closing of an old year and the beginning of a new one are viewed as a time of reflection and festivity,” explained Kosaka. “The performance combines the traditional and the contemporary, and incorporates a cross-cultural juxtaposition apropos to Los Angeles, the new Silk Road.”
The Kotohajime performance features Japanese dancer Midori Makino, flamenco guitarist Santiago Prechtel, koto ensemble Awaya-kai, Okinawan dance group Majikina Honryu and the Zen archery of Ikkyu.
Following the Kotohajime performance, Kodama Taiko will perform and demonstrate the making of traditional rice cakes for the New Year. Other activities include a traditional kagami biraki (breaking of the sake barrel) and New Year toast, drop-in crafts for the kids, and New Year fortunes.
The day also features a rare opportunity to learn how to make traditional and contemporary kites in the Doizaki Gallery from 1:30 pm. Using Washi paper, members of the Drachen Foundation will lead a workshop that will teach gallery-goers their style of kite making.
The workshop coincides with the “Washi to Wings” exhibition featuring the work of 30 different contemporary artists from the Drachen Foundation and the Shikishi Exhibition, a collection of more than 200 original and creative New Year greetings inspired by the Hatsu Warai: First Laughter theme.
This event is made possible by funds from The Japan Foundation and the Drachen Foundation. JACCC programs are made possible in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center is located at 244 South San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012, (213) 628-2725, www.jaccc.org.
