Description

07/24/07, Amonohashidate, Japan. At a Buddhist Festival that was, hands down, the most powerful and moving performance I have ever seen. Staged on a flatboat in the channel, huge, golden dragons, supported by tall poles carried by dancers, writhed and raged across the revolving bridge--an amazing spectacle against the backdrop of the night sky. The music was alternately haunting, poignant and intensely dramatic. The wise Monju-Bosatsu (feminine manifestation of Buddha), was called from China to tame the ferocious dragons. A thousand torches were kindled to light the way--and here, the entire Amonohashidate channel was illuminated by hundreds of torches. When she mounted the flatboat stage, the dragons stormed down to meet her and then commenced a dramatic struggle in which the dragons were tamed by faith. These are dragon dancers beneath the dragon in a swirl of colour and light. No more special effects catagory, so perhaps digital darkroom?