Kyoto Day Trip

We wanted to see the Miyako Oodori performance while we were in Kyoto last time but they were sold out. We were coming back for the markets anyway, so we booked seats for today. The performance was preceded by an authentic tea ceremony performed by two geisha. We were served a sticky mochi treat and some tea prepared by the geisha on a special plate that we were allowed to keep. The hall itself was magnificent and we had a great view from our balcony seats. I would have loved to sit in the private tatami balcony seats but don't think we could have managed it for an hour. So we sat there in our cushy seats and as the lights dimmed, the stage screen went up, the musicians started playing and singing and as I looked across at DS, he had a big cheesy grin across his face. He hadn't been expecting much but came along because I really wanted to go and as soon as the geisha started dancing, I knew he had been won over. We couldn't understand a word and really had no idea what was going on but we had a photo book which had a basic scene by scene synopsis, in English. The play went for an hour, the sets were pretty and effective, the sound was fantastic in the theatre and the whole thing was just breathtaking. The dancing was something else too, if you want to see a good example of perfectly synchronised dancing, look no further. They were like robots, all their movements in sync but still so graceful. It really was an experience and I'd be happy to go back next year! *^_^* The Miyako Oodori runs every year for the month of April to celebrate the Cherry Blossom season.

Before the play, we went to the Toji Temple for the markets, which was nothing much more than a flea market. We had missed the best one by a week :(