Have you ever been given a perfect opportunity and then you blew it because you simply were not ready? Yepp, happened to me.

It was quite a while ago. This was one of the first big ikebana events I attended. The famous and hugely admired in Europe Tetsunori Kawana was giving a demonstration and a seminar in The Netherlands. The demonstration was to take place in front of 250 people.

I was in the crew for the demonstration. We were 10 people dedicated to supporting the master and making it all happen. On top I was selected to be one of the 2 personal assistants for the demonstration. But at that time I was clueless to how big of a deal it was. Also I had no idea of what the actual expectations towards an ikebana assistants are.

The master was creating 10 compositions, a pretty standard set up for the Sogetsu demonstrations. As a part of the preparation we were doing 2 rounds of so called dry runs: rehearsals of the full show. During the first round I dutifully assisted Mr. Kawana, trying to help and do whatever I can. Then I was given a feedback: you have to stop helping. What? What does this mean? I was confused.

Apparently I was showing too much initiative. It took me a few years and observation of other numerous assistants before I understood what was wrong.

A “no-self” concept for an ikebana assistant

Honestly, still today I am looking for any material about the craft and the skills set of an ikebana assistant Joshu (助手). So far I was not able to find anything really helpful. It seems to be a very unique skill and only a few people have mastered it. And those who did do not see a point of talking about it.

My conclusion at this point is that to be a good ikebana assistant you need to learn leaving your own thought process behind. Instead you should become a part of the master’s field of creation. There is nothing you could do intellectually that would help you make the right move, to hand over the right material or a tool at the right instance. You just have to shut off your brain, become empty and sharpen your senses. Basically abandoning completely your ego and whatever other concepts you have of yourself. Essentially a rather Buddhist exercise. A very philosophical and rather useful practice for a Westerner if you think of it.

But back then I was not aware of any of that. I just tried to help. And with my naturally strong leadership skills (enhanced by the years of corporate work) I was inevitably interfering with the master’s work. Oh, and I also had this whole concept of “team work” in my mind – hugely misplaced and irrelevant in this context.

Getting fired Japanese style

Long story short, it was the day two of the preparations, the middle of the second round of the dry runs. Suddenly I was politely asked to take a different role in the supporting crew. I was put in change of the final bit of the logistics: organizing the flow of where the arrangements are going to be placed once they are completed. I was also supposed to carry them off the stage.

In retrospect it was a perfectly appropriate job for a strong Russian woman that I am. But at that time I was devastated. Especially because there was no attempt made to explain what I should have done differently. Communication was done in a very Eastern way: it was implied that I would reflect on it and figure it out for myself. By the way, this approach seems to be working very well as I am still busy thinking about it years later. See, I am even sharing with you. 🙂

Yes, I was upset for a while about the rejection but overall it was a great experience. It pushed me into a new territory, made me pay attention and try to figure out what it means to be a good ikebana assistant.

The extra gift of this experience was that I got to closely observe a great master! And I really liked the logistics assignment: thinking through the flow, making sure arrangements could pass through relatively narrow isles without catching one another with branches. At the same time making sure that the neighboring arrangements look harmoniously next to each other. I made the whole plan, re-arranged it about 3 or 4 times and eventually I was happy to have my “own area” where I could manage things my way.

Then there was the demonstration. It all went fine, nothing remarkable to report. I did not fall with a vase in my hands and I did not trip over the 4 steps going up and down the stage. The most interesting part of the demonstration was at the end, when a small light show took place. The final big arrangement was illuminated in various creative ways and in combination with the music it made a really profound experience. We could see some people in the audience being emotionally moved. It was beautiful.

The never ending journey of keeping notes

This experience had quite some influence on how I view the whole ikebana show science. During the years after this first ikebana assistant experience I did a number of demonstrations myself and assisted others in their shows. And through all this time I keep notes of all what I learn from ikebana demonstrations. Especially about the skills and behaviors needed for being a good assistant. I learned a lot from observing other assistants and from being assistant myself.

The most educational experience was being on the team of the Sogetsu Iemoto Akane Teshigahara, when she was performing here in Belgium. She came with her own team of 3 very experienced assistants. They follow her around the world and work with her for years. The way they run the preparation, organization of the large team, stage timings, backstage cues etc, it is unbelievably thought through. But this is an entirely different story for another post.

The 3 main things I have learned from this experience:

1. Research the expectations before you accept a volunteer assignment. Being a volunteer does not mean that any extra explanation will be given to you. If in doubt ask somebody who knows. Preferably ahead of time.
2. Clear and direct verbal communication is not a given especially in a multicultural environment. Be prepared to read subtle clues and body language to navigate successfully. When in doubt ask and watch the nuances of the reaction not only the words.
3.  If you are fortunate to work with a great master leave your personality at the door and be prepared to devote your full attention to that person for the necessary period of time. Even if you are not doing anything you are attentively present, ready at a moment’s notice. This has nothing to do with being bored when waiting in a que or waiting for something to happen. Something is happening already. It might be not visible to you. But the big creation is in the process of manifesting itself into reality and you are a humble part of it even if you are just an extra pair of hands that is not even used. You were there just in case. And it was necessary. A tough concept for me to accept. And it took me 5 years to figure out what this was about. 

Would you be interested in getting my notes and the check list for preparing ikebana demonstrations? Let me know in the comments below.

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