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Pikes Peak Yosakoi Ōbirin (パイクスピークよさこい桜美輪) was founded by Laura Powell in January 2017 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. Laura lived in Saitama, Japan for many years and during her last three years of stay, she was part of Koshigaya Yosakoi Ōbirin (越谷よさこい桜美輪). She showed up to their practice after seeing their performance one day, and even though she was the only foreigner in the group at the time, they were really welcoming and had members of all ages and walks of life there.

That inspired Laura greatly such that when she returned to the US in late 2016, she expressed interest in starting a Yosakoi team to the local Japan-America Society of Southern Colorado (JASSC; https://www.japanamerica.org/). That winter, the chairman contacted her with an opportunity to perform and share about yosakoi at a Girl Scouts International Fair at a local elementary school. The girl scouts from that day ended up joining the yosakoi team officially and are still members today!

Photo credits: Pikes Peak Yosakoi Ōbirin

Pikes Peak is the major defining landmark of Colorado Springs. 'Ōbirin' (桜美輪) means 'ring of beautiful sakura flowers.' "We inherited our name from Koshigaya Yosakoi Ōbirin 越谷よさこい桜美輪, our sister group," explained Laura. "Our Kaichou [leader] said if I started a group in America, to use their name for promotion and so we can use their original songs."

Aside from inherited songs, Pikes Peak Yosakoi Ōbirin also dance soh-odori songs such as 'Ai Nippon,' 'Street of the Soran,' and classics like 'Yosakoi Naruko Odori,' 'Nanchuu Soran,' and 'Urajya Ondo.' They performed at Japanese festivals such as Children's Day Festival, Mochitzuki Festival, and Denver's Cherry Blossom Festival.

"Yosakoi Japanese Festival dancing is a fabulous way to connect people from around the world, overcoming the language barrier, and sharing cultural exchange," said Laura. Laura and her teammates had a chance to go Kochi in 2018 through the Yosakoi Ambassador program by the Kochi government. "The Kochi Yosakoi Festival is truly an amazing and unforgettable experience!"

You can visit their Facebook page and YouTube channel

Special thanks to Laura for providing me the information in this post!

// Daniel