Butoh performances on March 4 at Yume Japanese Gardens

Enigma of Shadows – A Butoh Performance by Funhouse movement theater (matinee)

“Dreaming, we straddle the possibilities between what is and what could be. Our dreams, ambiguous and enticing, draw us into liminal consciousness where everything and nothing is real. Real or imagined, dreams begin and end in wonder.

Funhouse movement theater returns to Yume Japanese Gardens to take you on an exquisite butoh journey between enigmas and shadows.

A contemporary, avant-garde performance art, butoh is a seamless blend of dance, theater, improvisation, and traditional Japanese performing arts. Butoh compels both performers and audience to investigate the primal, universal energies that connect us, and invites us to share an embodied experience of the collective unconscious.

Enigma of Shadows is directed by Lin Lucas and features Sabrina Geoffrion, Marquez Johnson, Karenne Koo, Lin Lucas, Sherry Mulholland, Keita Tsutsumi, and Cynthia Wasco with spoken word by Taylor Johnson and music by Paul Amiel and company. Visitors to this unique performance will encounter dancers dispersed throughout the refined splendor of the garden, each engaged in choreographed and improvisational communion with the sights, sounds, and sensations of the natural environment.”

The participation in this event will be scheduled in increments of 1 hour per time slot:

Saturday, March 4th, 2023: 3:00PM-4:00PM OR 4:15PM-5:15PM

This is a limited admission event. Advanced ticket reservation is required.

General Admission: $28, Members/Seniors: $25, Children 3-15: $15. Purchase Tickets

Tucson performers at 2023 AZ Matsuri in Phoenix on Feb. 25 and 26

AZ Matsuri 2023 is returning in person for first time since the covid pandemic came to Arizona in March, 2020. The festival theme is “harmony” and runs both days 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The full schedule is here:https://azmatsuri.org/schedule-of-events

Tucson performers highlighted below:

Sat. Feb. 25:

11 a.m. Odaiko Sonora on Taiko Stage

2:30 p.m. Traditional dancers Suzuyuki-Kai on Cultural Arts stage

Sunday Feb. 26

10:30 a.m. Arizona Kyudo Kai (archery) on Martial Arts stage

2:30 p.m. Suzuyuki-Kai on Cultural Arts stage

Also, Tucson’s popular Takoyaki Balls food truck will be serving their delicious food on both days.

Spring Ikebana festival at Yume Japanese Gardens celebrates their 10th year in 2023

“This year, our annual Spring Ikebana Festival will celebrate a very special event: Yume Japanese Gardens’ 10th Anniversary.!!!

Traditional to contemporary flower arrangements will be presented by local artists of the five major ikebana schools – Sogetsu, Ikenobo, Ohara, Sangestu, and Shinsei – and displayed in original vases throughout the Gardens ground, showing the interesting variation in techniques and styles of these schools.

Ikebana, also known as “the Way of the Flowers”, is the meditative art of Japanese floral arrangements, and its ideals embody the essence of taste, beauty, and oneness with nature. Ikebana uniquely emphasizes shape, line, and form by giving equal weight to the branches, stems, and leaves of a plant rather than merely arranging its blooms. Classical Ikebana dates to the 15th century and successor schools have emerged since. In all of them, deep-rooted design rules and a Zen-like discipline subtly harmonize nature and the hand of the arranger.

Come celebrate with us the arrival of spring and 10 years of Ikebana Festivals at Yume Japanese Gardens!

Date & Time:

Festival will be held during our regular admission hours from 2/23 – 3/5. Special event fees apply, please check ticket prices below.”

Our general admission hours are: 

Thursday – Sunday: 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM

Tickets:

General admission: $18

Children under 15: $5

Members: $10

Includes entry to the entire Gardens.Purchase Tickets

Day of Remembrance panel discussion at Tucson Desert Art Museum on Feb. 18, 2023

To commemorate the 81st anniversary of the signing of E.O. 9066, and to highlight their ongoing exhibit “Citizen/Enemy: Japanese American Incarceration Camps”, the Tucson Desert Art Museum is hosting a lunch & learn panel discussion on Feb. 18, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Panelists are retired UA Prof. Min Yanagihashi and current UA Prof. Brett Esaki (descendant of camp internees), who will address the civil rights violations of the Japanese Americans interned during WWII, and the current situation today for Asian Americans. The topic “Asian American Discrimination: Then and Now” is relevant today with ongoing incidents of Asian Hate in America,

The Museum is located at 7000 E. Tanque Verde Rd. in Tucson.

“On February 18, 2023, the Tucson Desert Art Museum will host a special roundtable event entitled “Asian-American Discrimination: Then and Now” to commemorate the annual Day of Remembrance for Japanese American Incarceration during World War II on February 19. The event will be held from 11 am to1 pm and attendees are encouraged to bring their own lunch.
Retired Professor Min Yanagihashi and Assistant Professor Brett Esaki from the University of Arizona will be guest speakers. They will provide insight and historical context on the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, its ongoing legacy in the United States, and current-day prejudice against Asians in light of
COVID-19. The event aims to educate and raise awareness about the history and current issues of discrimination against Asian Americans.
This event is in support of the exhibition “Citizen/Enemy: Japanese American Incarceration Camps” currently
on display at the Tucson Desert Art Museum through March 26, 2023. “Citizen/Enemy” confronts an uncomfortable period in American history, when the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor led to the relocation of 120,000 Japanese Americans to incarceration camps. The exhibition features historic documents, installations, and large-scale images from noted photographers Dorothea Lange and Russell Lee, offering a
guide for reflection on this tragic political action and its repercussions for Japanese Americans.”