April 12, 2025: Flower arrangement demonstration at the luxury resort “Fuchun Shanju” in Hangzhou, China
I gave it my all and put on a large-scale flower arrangement performance.
The setting was a huge 25m x 25m pool in a resort. The audience was asked to sit at the top of the stairs leading to the pool.
The 25m x 25m pool was really big, and when I stood there with the water drained, I was stunned at how big it could be. I left some water in the pool and performed using water as an element.
This time, as a first attempt, we collaborated with dance. The choreography was by Ino Maiko. We asked her to come up with a dance to liven up the ikebana. We really discussed the direction together, but we only had about two days, so we created it under extreme circumstances. A performance that makes effective use of water. A collaboration with dance. A 40-minute ikebana show. Ikebana as entertainment. We want to convey the power of flowers to the viewers! With the help of many people, we thought about what ikebana can do now.
I think it’s easiest to understand by watching the video. I uploaded it to YouTube, so I’ll attach it here. The performance lasted about 40 minutes in total, but the video is divided into five parts.
Part1 The beginning
The story is… At first, only driftwood and a tree with quince fruits are arranged in an iron vase. I, a human, appear on the scene, guided by the spirits (dancers) who live in the mountains. The water is about 10cm deep, and the centre of the pool is like a pond. At first, the spirits look at me, a human, with curiosity, but the more flowers I arrange, the more surprised they become and the more excited they become. The once lonely mountain is soon bursting into bloom with flowers. Please enjoy the experience as if you were an audience member.
Part 2 Here, we have cherry blossoms, large balls, and apple trees. We are arranging the gifts of the mountains. The mountain spirits are starting to move little by little. The once lonely mountain is now bursting with flowers.
Part 3 The mountain spirits begin to dance energetically. They also discover the joy of arranging flowers, and express this with their whole bodies.
Part 4 “Art on the Water Surface – Bamboo Traces” Long, thin bamboo harvested from the mountains of Fushun Sankyo. This bamboo is used to draw beautiful traces on the water’s surface.
Part 5 The performance is finally reaching its final chapter!!! What look like feathers are being held are actually bleached palm leaves. They are made from bleached palm leaves.
Here’s a behind the scenes video of the production.
In my next blog, I will explain and show you lots of pictures.
