This performance was unexpected, but pretty awesome. My thoughts:
- Ringo's complex relationship with her identity as a Japanese person who is a fan/practitioner of Western-style pop music is reflected in the choreography (a blend of vogue/waacking and traditional Japanese dance), costume, and music. I always find it interesting how she navigates her identity in her art, effortlessly combining Eastern and Western influences.
- Ringo's choreography (probably created by Aya Sato, the dancer on Ringo's right) is the most dancing I've ever seen her do for one song. While this is mere speculation, I think Ringo was *really* nervous about it, given she very rarely does any kind of complex dancing and was a dancer as a child (until she was supposedly told she'd never be a dancer because of her asymmetries). Notice how much her voice was quaking on the last note right before Nagaku Mijikai Matsuri started.
- What a lot of people don't really get is that Aya and Bambi are a couple. Ringo performing vogue (already a queer dance form) seated between two women in a lesbian relationship is pretty satisfying to me as a homosexual man. lol
Sure, she didn't sing, but she did give one great performance.