By Albert Trotman and Allford Trotman
On Thursday, October 29th, 2015 the Japan Society presented Charan-po-rantan in concert, part of their women on the Rise initiative spotlighting women who are pushing boundaries in their chosen fields.
Charan-po-rantan is an sister act Koharu and Momo who play an energetic combination of musical styles that is likened to circus music but is in fact a mix of pop, klezmer, gypsy music, and chanson all with a feel of vaudeville. The base of their music is klezmer, a Jewish music of Eastern Europe.
The songs is mostly written by 26 year old, Koharu, who drives their performance with her accordion playing, while Momo, 22 sings a range of songs from soft and sweet to loud and rowdy! For the performance they were joined onstage by Fu-chin, the drummer in their all-women backup band, “Cancan Balkan”
The circus comparison is evident by the costumes they wear. It’s colorful, whimsical and alluring all at the same time. You don’t even need to be bilingual to find their performance very entertaining.
Attendee’s to the show were encouraged through their invitations to attend in costume. There were a number of people, women in particular who were dressed in the Lolita fashion style of clothing. a subculture originating in Japan that is based on Victoria and Edwardian clothing.
Pryor to the show people mingled in the lobby while listening to the jazz trio The Red Birds.
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