DJ, media creator and producer Afromance and his company Afro & Co. has made a name for himself with exciting experience-based events. At grape Japan, we've already covered events such as Maguro House, a party combining tuna carving and house music, or "SAKURA CHILL BAR by Saga Prefecture", a chill-out bar where you can dive into a pool of 1.2 million cherry blossom petals.

© Afro & Co.

絶景伝承芸能 Traditional performing arts in superb views

© Afro & Co.

Now Afro & Co. has collaborated with Saga Prefecture again to create a unique and exciting video now playing on the "Saga Traditional Performing Arts" YouTube Channel entitled "絶景伝承芸能 Traditional performing arts in superb views" which showcases Saga Prefecture's traditional performing arts against the backdrop of superb views only found in the prefecture. The video is complemented by an equally exciting and contemporary soundtrack.

The "Traditional performing arts in superb views" video project was realized with the purpose of promoting traditional performing arts such as the Menburyu Mask Dance and Lion Dance to a younger generation that may not be familiar with them. These vibrant performing arts are sadly in danger of disappearing due to a lack of young people willing to carry on the tradition, so this is a pressing issue.

The video was published in conjunction with the "3rd Saga Prefectural Traditional Performing Arts Festival" held at the Saga City Culture Hall on November 23, 2020. Out of the nine types of traditional performing arts of Saga Prefecture that were demonstrated during the festival, the video showcases Menburyu Mask Dance from Ureshino City and Lion Dance from Kashima City.


Video


Traditional Performing Arts of Saga Prefecture

Ureshino Menburyu Mask Dance

© Afro & Co.

Kashima Lion Dance

© Afro & Co.


Superb scenery of Saga Prefecture

嬉野茶畑 Ureshino Tea Fields

© Afro & Co.

杜の茶室 Tea Room in the Forest

© Afro & Co.

祐徳稲荷神社 Yūtoku Inari Shrine

© Afro & Co.

轟の滝 Todoroki no Taki Waterfall

© Afro & Co.


Creative Team

Shiho

© Afro & Co.

The selection and representation of beautiful scenery in the video is supervised by 詩歩 Shiho, a "scenic spot producer." For this video, she chose Todoroki Falls in Ureshino City, and Yutoku Inari Shrine in Kashima City, one of Japan's three major Inari Shrines.

KO-ney

© Afro & Co.

In addition, the music is handled by track maker KO-ney, one of the leading finger drummers in Japan who produces songs in commercials for SONY's "PlayStation Classic" and "Like it" on Charisma.com. He sampled the sounds of drums, flutes and performers' chanting from actual performers to create an original track that matches the action on screen.

Shiori Ejima

© Afro & Co.

Finally, the title logo was written by the calligrapher Shiori Ejima from Saga Prefecture.


By - Ben K.