Young Nihon Buyou – Traditional Dance
The traditional dancing of Japan is not only performed by geisha, but also by ordinary people, like this girl performign at the Yasukuni shrine in central Tokyo this last summer. With roots in the 17th century, traditional Japanese dancing is now quite rare, and fantastically expensive as a hobby among ordinary people. This little girl was excellent in her pantomime and slow, studied movements. If you are interested in classical Japanese arts and culture it is often cheaper and easier to keep an eye out for the rare free performances like this! Most of these dances are performed alone, but sometimes there is an assistant clad in black staying silent and motionless in the background, only moving to hand props or arrange the clothing of the dancer.
Yup, everybody pays! Somebody must be making a mint out of this art. I saw one performance where there were three assistants (dressed as ninjas) and one performer who had 4 costume changes, which of course meant she was wearing all the costumes at the same time and the assistants whip off a layer at a time in a flash. We were trying to work out how much that performance would have cost her—when we got to 1,000,000 Yen, we gave up because it was depressing… Great performance though!
This little girl looks good. She’s clearly mastered the no smiling thing.
I’m always grateful for your informative comments Coal! (^-^)
Oh my gosh I wish I’d gotten to see that live! The pictures just don’t do it justice!
I agree, the movement, the music…! (^-^;)
Fantastiskt så mycken kultur som förs vidare i Japan. Det gör även mej glad, stolta människor är orädda, är det inte så?
Tack för kommentaren! Det stämmer precis! Japanerna är stolta och säkra i sin tradition, vilket är mer än man kan säga om många europeiska folkslag. Det gör mig glad också, bara att se det!
Of the set, I think the last one is maybe the best.
My impression is that traditional Japanese dance is as much about the stillness in between as it is about any movements.
Yes, it’s about seamlessly combining stillness with movement, with every aspect controlled.
It sure is! That is why traditional Japanese dance is the darling of modern dance everywhere!!
Wow! I would have loved to see that!
Yasukuni often puts on these kind of performances, come on over for the next one! (^-^)
Oh she is just too cute!
Isn’t she? (^-^)