Doing the Bono-Dori! 12/12/14 Waikiki

My best excursion of the day was time spent at the beach just before sunset. I almost forgot to take a camera, and was so glad I remembered! The sun was low when I got there, so I spent the first few minutes taking photos of the Duke statue silhouetted against the sun.

As I was looking for some other shots, I heard music and what sounded like chanting. It wasn't really chanting, more a call and respond type of thing, but in Japanese. I hurried toward the sound and saw a group of mostly women in bright, short kimonos, all matching with black capris and athletic shoes. They were dancing in two columns, toes tapping and stepping in a staccato rhythm, arms waving, and hands flicking gracefully from side to side. They were led by a man and a woman who were doing the call part of the 'song'.

In the middle of the group another man and woman, dressed in black kimonos, were playing a little gong and a bamboo flute in a rhythm that never varied and a lively, memorable little tune that was repeated over and over throughout their dance. At the end of the group were a few 'just folks' who had joined the procession and were duplicating the dance as best they could.

Here is a brief video clip

Their dance started by the Life Stones at the head of the beach walk which is the dividing line between Waikiki beach and Kuhio beach. They passed the Duke statue and the big Banyan tree , then formed lines facing each other, and made a circle with the musicians and a couple of callers in the middle. They started a new round of call and response, and after a bit the dancers started dancing in a circle.

This family did the whole thing and the mom was just grinning. 

I just missed getting the expression on the big Polynesian guy's face. He was totally having fun with it. 

Look how happy the guy on the left is, joining in to the dance

Some beach goers plowed their way through the edge of the circle and a few others joined it. One, a big Samoan or Tongan was really getting a kick out of it. another, a bushy bearded red haired young man also was transported with delight. I continued making videos and snapping photos, and had fun when one of the women saw me filming and smiled an extra big smile for me.

After they were done, I battled between my desire not to intrude and my desire to know what it was about. Finally I approached one of them and started asking questions. We had a language barrier but they were able to tell me they were from 'Tokyo-shima' and were here for the marathon and that they were known for their dancing. They got someone who spoke english to explain further. The dance was normally done for the day to honor the ancestors and is called the Bono-Dori. What a treat!