www.ltdanceclub.org

Signed in as:

filler@godaddy.com

Account

About Us

Who We Are...

The Little Tokyo Dance Club (LTDC), just one of the many sub groups that make up the Skidrow-kyo Mission. The Little Tokyo Dance Club promotes all forms of dance, but is best known for "Ondo" or “Japanese Festival” Dancing. The Little Tokyo Dance Club participates in countless cultural and community events. Leading Ondos, performing Ondo demonstrations/workshops or just participating in Ondos. The LTDC also participates in numerous Obons during the summer dance season, known affectionately as the "Obon Hoppers..." Members of the Little Tokyo Dance Club are always in search of "Another Chance to Dance..."

Where We Come From...

The Little Tokyo Dance Club (LTDC), just one of the many sub groups that make up the Skidrow-kyo Mission. Skid Row-kyo is named after a section of Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) where the intersections of Little Tokyo, DTLA’s Artist District and Skid Row converge literally and figuratively. Skid Row-kyo Mission is a non-religious, not for profit, grassroots organization based out of Little Tokyo in DTLA. 100% volunteer membership. Its mission is driven by spirit, culture and community to bring people together, promoting the arts and helping those in need.

Calendar of Events

Another Chance to Dance - minyo odori group Koto Buki no kai at Nisei Week Street Ondo

04/20/2024 - OC Japan Fair 2024 "Cherry Blossom"

Tasting, shopping and learning about Japanese culture. Demonstrations, performances, games, etc.

Ryujin Taiko and LTDC Ondo Workshop 1 PM to 1:30 PM at Nakamise stage. Ondo Demonstration 2:15 PM to 2:45 PM on Main stage

findOutMore

7/4 to 7/7 2024 - Anime Expo 2024 Ondo Workshop

Anime Expo 2024 at the Los Angeles Convention Center - 7/4 opening ceremony, 7/6 Ondo Workshop, 7/7 closing ceremony

FindOutMore

7/23, 7/25, 7/30 & 8/1- Nisei Week Parade / Ondo Practice. 8/6 - Street Ondo Practice

Parade Dances and Street Dancing Practice

July 23 (Tues) & July 25 (Thurs) - practicing only the two parade dances

July 30 (Tues) & August 1 (Thurs) - practicing parade dances the first half and street ondo the second half

August 6 (Tues) - practicing the street ondo for the public dancers (this practice is optional for the dance groups)

6:30pm - 9:00pm

6:30-7:30 - ondo practice

7:30-7:45 - break

7:45-9:00 - ondo practice

Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC)

244 San Pedro St,

Los Angeles, CA 90012

FindOutMore

8/3/2024- Boyle Heights Community Partners

3rd Annual Nikkei Celebration in Boyle Heights - Parade and public ondo. Saturday August 3, 2024 4pm to 10pm. Event location in front of the Boyle Heights historic Japanese restaurant Otomisan located at 2506 1/2 East First Street, LA Ca 90033

FindOutMore

8/11/2024 Nisei Week Grand Parade

2024 Nisei Week Grand Parade 4pm to 6pm - 1st and 2nd Street in Little Tokyo DTLA

FindOutMore

8/18/2024 Nisei Week Closing Ceremony and Street Ondo

2024 Nisei Week Closing Ceremony and Street Ondo - 1st Street in Little Tokyo DTLA. - Live entertainment, and public ondo. 4pm to 8pm. The public is invited to Nisei Week’s finale, the Japanese tradition of dancing in the street with live entertainment, to close out the festival on August 18, beginning at 4 p.m.

Celebrate Little Tokyo’s 140th anniversary with a special event, presented by the Little Tokyo Community Council and Little Tokyo Historical Society.

This will be followed by the Ondo and Closing Ceremony. Everyone is welcome to join Japanese dancing in the street, led by the 2024 Nisei Week Choreographer Hanayagi Rokufukumi.

Robert Vargas, the local artist behind the Shohei Ohtani mural, will also be recognized.

FindOutMore

8/24/2024 - OCO (Orange County Optimist) Natsu Matsuri @ Tanaka Farms

2024 Orange County Optimist (OCO) Natsu Matsuri at Tanaka Farms in Irvine California. Enjoy a lineup starting with OCO Kibou Taiko, entertainment, martial arts demo, games, lots of great food, a beer garden, ondo dancing lead by LTDC featuring Ryujin Taiko, and (drum roll, please)…a Parade!

FIND OUT MORE

10/19/2024 - OC Japan Fair 2024

2024 OC Japan Fair at the OC Fair & Event Center, Costa Mesa CA

FIND OUT MORE

11/09 & 10/2024 - Anime Expo Chibi 2024

Anime Expo Chibi at the Ontario Convention Center

FIND OUT MORE

NEW DATE 11/21/24 - Worthy Of Love & Little Tokyo Business Association Children's Birthday Party

6 pm at the Terasaki Budokan in Little Tokyo DTLA the Little Tokyo Business Association will host the Worthy Of Love children with a Birthday Party Celebration for "unhoused" children and their families. 300+ children and their families are expected to attend this event.

FIND OUT MORE

TBA

Check back for event update

Nisei Week Closing Ceremony and Street Ondo - FLASH MOB

"Happy Nisei Week !!!"

Thank You Beverly Toyama for capturing this piece of Nisei Week history and posting on Youtube. Coming up with the music and dance steps and practicing in the parking lot of Centenary United Methodist Church located at the virtual center of Skid Row-kyo. At the Nisei Week Festival Closing Ceremony and Street Ondo, starting out with a single dancer (in pink, Michelle Nagata) dancing the electric slide to "achy breaky heart", more dancers seem to spontaneously join in until the entire street is filled with dancers as if they were facing off in a street dance battle.. Then the music transitions into a Ondo song. The song is Gokegin Ondo and all the dancers transition to dancing the electric slide with ondo hand motions. Nisei Week history in the making. A Ondo Flash Mob Line Dance that was spectacular to watch... "Happy Nisei Week !!!"

Worthy of Love LA and Little Tokyo Business Association

Peace, Love & Birthday Cake

Worthy of Love LA and the Little Tokyo Business Association partnered to host a birthday bash at the Japanese American Cultural Community Center in DTLA for "unhoused" children. Skid Row-kyo Mission volunteers and Little Tokyo Dance Club members helped with operations, logistics and entertainment.

"Help others help others" & "Another chance to dance"

This is WHAT WE DO ... Sometimes our Skid Row-kyo Mission and Little Tokyo Dance Club converge in SPIRIT CULTURE COMMUNITY . Worthy of Love LA and the Little Tokyo Business Association hosted a birthday bash for "unhoused" children at the Terasaki Budokan in DTLA. This is what we do: "help others help others" and promote "another chance to dance"

Worthy Of Love Volunteer Information

Thursday November 21, 2024 5:00 pm Terasaki Budokan in Little Tokyo DTLA

On Thursday November 21,, 2024 from 6 pm to 8pm (setup at 5pm.) The Little Tokyo Business Association will host the Worthy Of Love Organization and 300+ Unhoused Children and their families for a cultural exchange and a Birthday Celebration for children born in the month of September. Volunteers representing the Skidrow-kyo Mission and / or Little Tokyo Dance Club are asked to be at the event by 5:00 pm. Volunteer's roles are basically to interact with guest during activities such as the "ondo demonstration." Videos of previous Worthy Of Love events are posted on this website.

Terasaki Budokan Recreation Center in Little Tokyo DTLA 249 S Los Angeles St. LA CA 90012

The Terasaki Budokan does have limited underground "pay" parking. Enter on S. Los Angeles St. Food will be served to GUEST, volunteers will have access to any food left over. The possibility of food run out is probable so Volunteers should plan accordingly and eat before the event... There is a 7/11 across the street from the venue. Volunteers that have never visited the Terasaki Budokan may be asked to electronically (on a tablet) complete a facility "acknowledgement" document before entering the premises. This document only needs to be done once, if done in the past just let the administrator know acknowledgement has been completed during a previous visit to the Budokan.

The Kid's LOVE TO DANCE, volunteers are encouraged to join in the HIP HOP DANCE OFF

The kids love to dance and this is their favorite part of the event, the "hip hop dance off.". Volunteers are encouraged to join in the dancing. WE ARE ALWAYS IN SEARCH OF VOLUNTEERS THAT LOVE TO DANCE TO "HIP HOP", etc... And willing to share your talents with a great group of kids.

Thank you for your support as a Volunteer

Spending your time to celebrate with Kids that are less fortunate is greatly appreciated by the Worthy of Love organization, the Little Tokyo Business Association and the Skidrow-kyo Mission / Little Tokyo Dance Club. The smiles on the faces of the kids that attend the event are PRICELESS, volunteerism and participation make's events like this memorable and successful. Dance in SPIRIT CULTURE and COMMUNITY. CARE SHARE and BE THERE for THOSE IN NEED. Thank you for your support... - Skidrow-kyo Mission / Little Tokyo Dance Club

OC Cherry Blossom Fest. Ondo Demonstration ft. Ryujin Taiko

Thank you Noriko of BON JOY Dance Circle for the videos

Our friend in Ondo, Noriko of Bon Joy Dance Circle joined us on stage at the OC Cherry Blossom Festival. What we did not know at the time, she was videoing the event. Thank you Noriko for posting the videos on Youtube. LTDC highly recommends anyone interested in great Ondo / bon odori dance instruction subscribe and follow Noriko on pretty much all social media platforms as well on Youtube at " noriko.sandiego " or " B O N J O Y ♪ 盆JOY "

Traditional Ondo & POP Ondo - LTDC, "this is what we do..."

LTDC's usual start for a Ondo demonstration is a western line dance as most people are more familiar. LTDC then explain Ondo dancing is basically line dancing done in a circle. After convincing audience members to join on stage, LTDC then leads into the demo with a Traditional Ondo to teach the steps. Then dancers are lead to do the same dance steps to POP Music. This is POP ONDO, Kyushu Tanko Bushi is probably the most popular traditional ondo of all times (a standard.) "Heard it Through the Grapevine" was previously the POP Ondo song for Tanko Bushi. That was until the LTDC started using "Uptown Funk." Now a standard for Pop Ondo...

One + One and that song from the movie Top Gun

If you had to rank Ondos, "One plus One" would be "Two", no pun intended. Now in regards to Pop Ondo, this is the "go to" dance. Virtually any song can be matched with the dance steps to one plus one. LTDC until recently used "feel it still" as Pop Ondo music for 1+1. With the release of the hit movie "Top Gun Maverick" LTDC switched to "i ain't worried" while doing a workshop at the Anime Expo Chibi in Ontario CA. in Japanese folk dancing, the dance steps and movements are supposed to tell a story. Matching 1+1 to the Top Gun song meets folk dancing standards. Dancers are flying jet fighters in formation and are having a fun dog fight. Some dancers go right, some go left. Some dancers spin, some do not. The dance steps and the music fits...

"Aizu ban dai san" and "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons

This is another example when a Traditional Ondo dance steps match perfectly to a Pop song. Aizu ban dai san, nicknamed the "Egyptian" dance because of the egyptian like hand motions. Mount Aizu ban dai is a volcanic mountain with much turbulent weather. The hand motions in the dance are a "zig zags" like lightning. The clapping of the hands and the stomping of the feet is thunder. So in true folk dance fashion, the LTDC for a POP Ondo matches "Aizu ban dai san" and Imagine Dragon's "Thunder" to make a classic Pop Ondo"folk dance". Everything fits so well, the dance steps, the hand motions, the words of the song, the rhythm, the beat, etc. Perfct fit...

Traditional Ondo Dance "Sakura Ondo" demonstrated at the Orange County Cherry Blossom Festival

The LTDC has been performing Ondo Demonstrations at this event since the very beginning's of the festival (originally called the Huntington Beach Cherry Blossom Festival.) "Sakura" is Japanese for "Cherry Blossom" so "Sakura Ondo" is a very appropriate ondo to demonstrate at this festival. Since it was a demonstration, the LTDC taught this dance using a "follow the leader" technique oppose to teaching "step by step." At Ondos you will often see LTDC members help those that need help with the steps. It's what we do...

Again, "thank you" Noriko of BON JOY Dance Circle for the videos. Everyone please support and subscribe to her Youtube channels...

LlTDC ended the OCCBF demonstration with a line dance (Electric slide) using a traditional Ondo song with Ondo hand motions. Originally this was a "Flash Mob" we did at the Nisei Week Festival Closing Ceremony and Street Ondo in Little Tokyo. We started the Flash Mob doing the "Electric Slide" dance steps to "Achy Breaky Heart." Then dancers transitioned into a "Ondo Line Dance" to the song "Gokegin Ondo". This is the LTDC demonstrating Gokegin Ondo as a line dance using the electric slide dance steps. The LTDC has a bunch of these dances as well...

Again, "thank you" Noriko of BON JOY Dance Circle for the videos. LTDC highly recommends anyone interested in great Ondo / bon odori dance instruction subscribe and follow Noriko on pretty much all social media platforms as well on Youtube at " noriko.sandiego " or " B O N J O Y ♪ 盆JOY "

This one's for the record books... LTDC in action

You have an idea, let's break the worlds record for one group performing a Ondo Fan Dance but don't have any idea "how do you do this?" John Muir Middle School in Burbank California contacted the LTDC and the rest is history...

Being on the ground in the mix of things was a entirely different story. The MASS of dancers was chaotic and overwhelming. The taiko drummers were removed from the yagura and positioned on the ground. The Ondo Leader was placed in the yagura so the sea of dancers could follow the leader. The Ondo leader on top the yagura was just a blip to the dancers lining the outer perimeters of the dance c

John Muir Middle School has a student body of approximately 1400 students. The entire JMMS student body made their own uniforms, fans (uchiwa) and practiced a traditional ondo for a month leading up to their Asian Culture Day event.

The LTDC provided instruction, Ondo Leader, support dancers, yagura, yagura drummers and a internationally renowned expert in regards to Japanese dance and culture to validate the event.

Staging and line up was a challenge in itself, the shear number of dancers was staggering. LTDC members were on hand to insure the ondo went smoothly with order and uniformity. From a birds eye view things looked relatively orderly and uniform.

Over 1500 dancers in unison danced a traditional ondo breaking a worlds record for a single Ondo Group dancing a "ondo fan dance". Spectacular, amazing, sensational... LTDC always willing to support those who need help. LTDC driven by SPIRIT CULTURE COMMUNITY