kindergarten SAMBA!

Matsuken Samba is, well, difficult for me to understand, but constitutes blog mention because its the most obscure Japanese pop culture phenomenon anyone could have dreamed up. Ken Matsudaira was a famous samurai-type actor in Japan who decided that he needed to be having more fun...or something like that. So he dresses himself in a glittery gold kimono, slaps on some makeup and begins to perform the goofiest latin/disco inspired song and dance "Matsuken Samba." Needless to say, there have now been several versions of the Samba and echoes of it can be heard on tv programs, in parades, at karaoke and also in my kindergartens.

At both of my junior high sports days in September the kindergarteners came to perform a 'cheer dance' choreographed to the Matsuken Samba (I posted pictures back then of adorable kids in glittery 'kimono'). It was unbelievably cute, but my camera battery was dying so I didn't take many pictures of them in action. Lucky us, though, I got an encore performance at the Minami Kindergarten Holiday Party last December. Pay attention to the little kid who wanders into the performance (you can also hear his older sister shouting for someone to get him out of her spotlight)... although its hard to see, this kid was singing along with the choreography from the actual Matsuken Samba performance, cracked me up.

And now, our feature presentation...