All Reviews for Shows and Entertainment

I would recommend this show to anyone who is in Kyoto during the performance period and who would like to see authentic geisha. The costumes and dances were beautiful and well worth the expense. Know beforehand that the show has speaking parts in Japanese with no translation, but an English programme is available for purchase. I opted for electronic tickets through VELTRA and had no issues picking up tickets from the box office. Our tickets included a tea ceremony, where we received delicious tea, a sweet, and a souvenir plate.

The tea ceremony was great because I could see the geisha's performance up close. Since I was alone, I happened to be seated in the very front, which allowed me to see everything very well.

The dance drama was based on "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and had humor, with beautiful costumes and dances. It was a delightful performance. The venue was pleasantly intimate, with the stage close to the audience, allowing me to see the geishas up close, and I was very satisfied.

お茶席は芸妓さんのお点前が間近で見られてよかったです。一人だったのでたまたま一番前の席に案内されて、よーく見ることができました。
舞踊劇は真夏の夜の夢を題材にしたものでユーモアもあり、衣装も踊りもきれいで、楽しいだしものでした。いい意味でこじんまりした会場で舞台と客席が近くて芸妓さん達も間近で見ることができて、大満足でした。

I presented my Veltra voucher at the reception and declared that I had already paid, but I was not attended to and was passed around. In the end, I received the worst response, being told to go down to the basement office to confirm myself.
Ultimately, I was able to enter without any issues (of course), but it was very unpleasant considering I had made a proper reservation and payment.
The experience itself was definitely worth it.

受付でベルトラのバウチャーを提示し、支払済を申告したにもかかわらず、受付されず、たらいまわしされた。あげく、地下の事務室まで自身でおりて確認しろとの、最低な対応をうけた。
結局は無事入場できた（当然）が、きちんと予約支払いしているのに、大変不愉快だった。
をどり自体は十分価値のある内容でした。

Beautiful, fantastic and great show!!
I will go to Gion next spring to watch spring MAIKO and GEISHA Dance show in kyoto Japan.

We reserved with veltra for the Geisha dance show "Gion Odori". The booking was very simple, and the price was the same as if we booked directly. We were surprise because we really had a great place, from where we had a perfect view on the Geishas.

The show was amazing, we couldn't have come in Japan and not see a Geisha dance show. It was even better than we expected and if we come back, we won't hesitate to book one more time with veltra.

You bought tickets for Gion Odori in November. The exchange of the voucher was very easy and hassle free. The seats allocated were not the best however, in the balcony. I guess i is done randomly, so we had no good luck :)But for a decent price we do not complain. Performance was very good, 6 Geiko and Maiko dances with grand finale when there were around 15 dancers on the stage. Highly recommended!

My girlfriend and I very much enjoyed this Geisha dance and it was one of our highlights in Kyoto. The process of buying the tickets through Veltra was easy as we only had to print off our ticket receipt and show this at the door. By booking our tickets a few days in advance we ended up with great seats near the front of the theatre.

An amazing and memorable show. Extremely well worth the time and money if you're in Kyoto at the time, or even altering your trip time to include it if it's not too much of a hassle. If you've seen any of the other seasonal dances it's still worth seeing because of the differences in theatricality, dance and performance style. Excellent.

As for the Tea Ceremony plan, go in with tempered expectations. Chances are you won't be able to see the maiko making/serving the tea and, even if you can, it's even less likely you'll be the one being served. But that's fine as you still get a very nice snack, tea, commemorative plate and kerchief for a very low price. Consider actually seeing the maiko as a bonus and not the main course.

Also, picking up the Program option is well worth it. You can get it at the show as well but it's the same price as just buying online and when you buy online you'll get it right at the door with no extra fuss or muss.

For some reason they do not allow photos. This is 2017, every smart phone has a camera and especially coming from a foreign country you want to capture the experience. Next time just watch online the dozens of postings.

We arrived and were given some tickets in exchange for our online voucher. Then we were taken to some folding chairs in a passageway. I dont understand why we didnt get a normal seat in the theatre.

If you gave the chance to see this performance, don't miss it!

The Gion Odori was an emotional, moving performance. You could never have the same authentic experience anywhere but Japan. There were maiko and prominent Kyoto residents in the audience, too, so you know it’s for real! The Veltra booking service made it super easy to get a ticket as a foreigner. I picked up my ticket at the theater about 30 minutes before the performance.

The show was very nice with magnificent colors. The location of our seats (view of the scene) was very good but the quality of the seat was poor, we were on add-on type hard seats instead of the normal softer seats. The show lasts one hour and tends to be boring with the same music and voice all along. In any case, a must-see show to get acquainted with Japanese culture.

If you're fortunate enough to be in Kyoto for this, I recommend you absolutely do it!

A few things to note:
-Booking online through Veltra guarantees you a seat; we were originally going to wait for tickets at the theatre itself, but they had long lines on the day of and it was SUPER cramped.
-We arrived an hour early to check in; just showed a print out of the Veltra voucher and got some souvenir stickers, and the lady at check-in said "Your seats are not very nice, so please accept this as an apology" -she gave us a free souvenir cloth - the same ones the Geiko & Maiko throw at the crowd during the show!
-We opted for the Tea Ceremony - After getting into a bit of a tight line on the upper level for 20 minutes, we got a piece of mochi and a bowl of green tea - just enough for a few sips, nothing too crazy/big. The room it is held in is quite small; it felt like a classroom with desks very close to each other. You are squeezed into a spot as soon as the previous people have vacated their seats; No photos but there is a Maiko and a Geiko at the front of the room looking quite solemn/stern so you might be lucky to be seated directly in front of them while you're enjoying your snack but you're equally likely to be put in the far corner. Again, a tight squeeze.
-The seats were really not that bad, we were on the highest level and it seems like other Veltra buyers were too (other Westerners). The view for us was great but it seems you don't have a choice in selection.
-It's not in the same spot as Gion Corner; the theatre for this is actually across the street from the Yasaka Shrine.
-Everything's in Japanese, heads up - even the program you receive. Again, we're a couple of fairly smaller people under 5'8" and it was a bit cramped - so take note if you're on the larger side. We noticed a heftier American couple with mobility issues having a slightly tougher time... but they also talked through the entire show. Avoid coming with bags!

One of the most beautiful dances I have ever seen and one of the highlights of my trip in Japan.

Nothing short of spectacular! These public dances emit a magical atomsphere that is sure to spell-bound everyone. There is nothing else like it in the world !

Good show with a quick cup of tea at first in a separate room. Easy to change the voucher into ticket (one hour before the show). Very pleased.

Very nice and impressive performance. The tee ceremony not really worth it, but the performance was excellent

Having the ticket beforehand has been great. I think there were still available tickets onsite when we got there but the place was pretty packed by showtime so still good to plan beforehand.

If you plan to do the tea ceremony, there will be several batches as the room is small. Try to sit in the first row to experience the Maiko serving you your tea.

I was given a foldable chair to sit in while other had regular seats in the theatre. I understand that I was not the only one given such a seat but it indicated that the theatre oversold their tickets? And given that I purchased my ticket one month in advance, I don't see how it should come to that. Veltra, as the go between, you should really look into the matter, or at least drop the booking from your site – as it reflects badly on you to be listing activities that don't meet a certain standard for paying customers. The show was great though.

Performance was excellent but was treated like maximazing turnover - tea ceremony too fast and on a personal level having book most expensive options well in advance was disappointed to be on an end row -on an additional hard chair unlike the the more comfortable seats in the auditorium - so my 3 reflects the efforts of the artists not the management

Have been to Kyoto before but never saw a dance performance. It was fantastic and the seats were very good too. I really appreciated being able to get them from the US before the trip -- I expect they would have been sold out by the time we were in Kyoto, especially as we had 7 people attending. Thanks, Veltra!

TRIP VERY NICE..............................................................................................................

Una actuación que recomendaría no perderse a cualquiera que visite Kyoto. Son bailes tradicionales japoneses y es posible que no a todo el mundo le guste pero creo que es algo que hay que conocer. La reserva de los asientos estuvo bien, lo malo que no puedes elegir asiento.

This is traditional japanese thing you definitely want to see.
I personally love it.
You can watch it only here and only 10 days in a year, SO JUST DO IT.
On the other hand, tea ceremony is not the thing you want spend money on. It's not even ceremony: you just get matcha tea and small sweets.

The opportunity to see the Gion Odori was such a lovely and unique pleasure. The dance was beautiful, and the costumes and sets were spectacular. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to see into the traditional and exquisite world of Geiko and Maiko.

It's great that Veltra offered this service which allowed me to buy the ticket in advance. The tickets of this performance were actually only sold at the theater
As I bought it in advance via Veltra, I just collected my ticket at the entrance without worrying about the queue and out of tickets. The show was actually full house when I arrived there! So I highly recommended to buy ticket online in advance.
Before the show, there was a brief tea session in a big room with Maiko performing tea ceremony. The dance performance was like going back in time and totally immersed into Japanese culture!

The show was perfect, but my seat had a partial view of it! I was disappointed because I paid the same amount as other people but couldn't enjoy 100% of the show.

This is the meaning of it all, this is what the Geiko & Maiko are trained for. And this might be one of the very few opportunities that a tourist can see a Geiko perform. Not to be missed if you are in Kyoto during this period.

It was a really good experience, definitely worth doing. We had really good seats right at the front, and thoroughly enjoyed each performance. One of the highlights whilst staying in Kyoto.