Talking Japanese

Ka-Bu-Ki - Sing-Dance-Skill: the Japanese art of theatre. This was the theme presented to us by the wonderful ladies at Stellar Events for their next costume ball extravaganza. These evenings are always incredible and we are proud to have done our part to support this fantastic fundraiser.

Kabuki and the wider implications of Japanese culture is indeed a rich vein of visual gold to be mined, and this was an epic opportunity to learn as much as we could about the values behind the visuals. It was important to everyone involved that we represented and interpreted a culture that is not ours not only accurately, but also respectfully. 

The starting point was the wonderful calligraphic forms of Kanji and after we were sure we hadn't used totally the wrong characters and spelled something either irrelevant or highly offensive (with invaluable assistance from Naoko Mauger and Tomoko Nel), we set to work with the animation, a whole raft of printed collateral and signage, digital artwork, and videos for the big evening. 

Armed with serious anticipation of what entertainment was to be unleashed at the event, we suited up and experienced the theatrical evening that Claire and Nadia had arranged - and it couldn't have been any better. A very successful £25,000 was raised for supported charities Bright Tights, the Youth Commission, and the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, and we know these funds will contribute to these organisations' success on and off the island. 

It's one thing to create the brand, to design the menu and programme and more, but what a privilege to then enjoy the carefully curated food, quality sake, Japanese drummers and dancers - we thoroughly enjoyed Kabuki and we can't wait to see what's next for Stellar Events!

Many thanks to Evoke for sharing fabulous shots of the evening.