David Cowland-Cooper (front in a red T-shirt) fell in love with Awa Odori, a Japanese traditional folk dance, and started a local dance group in Brisbane. Source: Tensui Australia
Awa Odori is a traditional folk dance in Tokushima and has been playing a big role in the communities there.
After three years in Iya, Mr Cowland-Cooper decided to move to Tokushima City, the centre of Awa Odori to learn more about the dance and joined one of the most prestigious local dance groups, called Tensuiren. With support from the group, Mr Cowland-Cooper launched its Australian branch called .
Tensui Australia started to teach Awa Odori in Brisbane. They survived the national lockdown which started in March 2020, and now holds face-to-face weekly classes in Brisbane. About two month ago, Tensui Australia started holding monthly classes in Gold Coast too.
In the audio, Mr Cowland-Cooper tells us about how he got into the dance and what the appeal of the dance is.
Most of the members of Tensui Australia are Japanese or people who have some connection to Japan. One of the students resides in Byron Bay, NSW. Mr Cowland-Cooper said that there might be some people who dance Awa Odori at the annual in Byron Bay this weekend.
