Phillip Radcliffe
Soran! Soran! Soran!

(Japanese translation below)
The SU Yosakoi team LafĂȘte participated in the Sapporo Yosakoi Soran Festival again this year. The event was held over a five day period from June 8 to 12. This year was also the 25th anniversary of the Sapporo Yosakoi Soran Festival.
The first Yosakoi Soran Festival was held in 1992 and only had ten teams of about 1,000 participants, but it has grown bigger every year since then. There are now about 300 dance teams with a total of about 30,000 dancers. About 1 million spectators come out to see the event each year.
Sapporo Universityâs team began in 2000, so this is the 16th year they have been participating. The SU LafĂȘte team has over 100 members. Shun Inoue, a sophomore English major, was this yearâs team leader. He said the team practiced hard for many months. They practice for a couple of hours three or four times every week at night. LafĂȘte means âcelebrationâ in French. The name shows the positive spirit of the team.
Before the festival begins the teams are divided into 20 groups of 12 teams each. The top 3 teams from each group are chosen after the first stage competition. The first place team from each group goes on to compete until the end of the festival on the final stage.
The second and third place teams get to continue at various locations around the city, but not on the final stage. LafĂȘte placed third in their group this year as well as last year. Their hope is to place second or even first someday and perform on the final stage. Go LafĂȘte!
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