Kabuki - Japan's gift for the world of dancing

By Amal Hewavissenti

The Japanese are noted for their natural tendency to preserve traditions which they blend with particular elements borrowed from foreign cultures. Faces with the general demands of the modern world, they find it virtually impossible to reject what is beyond their culture but are prepared to accept modern trends and concepts that conveniently fit into theirs.

Even in the planned school curriculum, a considerable freedom to borrow foreign styles to enrich local traditional art has been encouraged. As far as dancing is concerned, Japanese respect the traditional forms of dancing but they never seem hesitant in their employment of modern technology to improve the quality of their dancing styles.

Yet they leave no possibility of their dancing forms being spoilt or transformed by what they have extracted from foreign styles. Most notably Japanese in all respects, preserve what is traditional in their art and always are inclined to employ what is foreign in their new creations.

The Kabuki dance, which is the theme of our discussion reflects the rhythm of the hearts of Japanese people. Through the movements of Kabuki the people unleash their emotions, expectations, desires because movements are more dynamic than words. Like all other dance forms, Kabuki exists both as a living form of entertainment and a cultural symbol of Japanese art.

The most prominent aspect of Kabuki dance is its stylised nature away from realism. Stage settings occupy a major importance in this dance because they contribute much to retain and elevate the overall appeal and interest of the dance.

The Kabuki stage settings powerfully recreate natural environment such as rivers, mountain ranges, waterfalls as well as palaces, edifices, religious places and so forth.

Disasters

Apart from that, modern equipment used in this dance has been successful in recreating disasters on stage such as wild fires, volcano eruptions, conflagrations and collapsing of buildings. These effects promote the total performance of Kabuki dance which sometimes assumes the form of a dance drama.

Generally the Kabuki dance has been identified as a classic combination of dance and drama that can be enjoyed either as a dance alone or as a drama. Kabuki is a dance because it employs rhythmic succession of steps and body movements to the music and is a drama because it presents a story or a particular incident through the dance.

The basic performance of any character or event is purely aesthetic in this dance style. Exaggeration of a general event or human emotions is a fundamental theory in Kabuki dance. The human emotions such as envy, hatred, kindness or love are frequently seen to be exaggerated in the body movements. Fighting, committing suicide, victory or defeat are overacted in the dance and this exaggerated movements are a fundamental theory in Kabuki.

The dance adds an aesthetic beauty even to repulsive actions such as murdering a person ( Koroshi Nobi ) and music played on drums, bells and reed instruments heightens the tense atmosphere. A specially trained chorus presents musical dialogues rhythmically and poetically to add charm to the dance in action. Music plays a substantial role in Kabuki dance.

"Samisen", a musical instrument with three strings is employed here to play four major musical styles such as Kiyomotho, Gidaya, Nagautha and Thokiwasu. Apart from that, a flute, a big round drum and smaller drums are used to create musical effects and to heighten the intensity of emotional moments of the dance.

Musical instruments such as bells and flute are effectively used to reproduce natural sounds and animal calls such as raining, blowing of the wind and those of birds.

The emergence of ghosts and supernatural beings in specific stages of the dance is signalled by playing agreeably discordant notes combinations which excite horror. Therefore, music is a key element in Kabuki which adds more depth to the dance.

Themes

Kabuki dance employs multiple themes ranging from historical events to life and events in slums. In this exclusive dance, we meet priests, warriors, gamblers, noblemen, merchants, criminals and a wider array of characters that represent varied social classes. Kabuki employs two types of characters such as male characters ( okothogatha ) and female characters ( onnagatha ) that are further classified on grounds of their appearance as well as their good or bad qualities.

In the modern Kabuki, female characters are portrayed by men. The dances such as Narukami, Sukeroku, Shibaraku and Kanjinvo are regarded as the masterpieces in Kabuki tradition. The success of Kabuki dance depends partially on the script writing. Kabuki script writers such as Wikamathsu E. Emon, Thakeda Isamo, Sakura Dajiske, Thawatheke Moku ami have written excellent scripts which have made. Kabuki so powerful and popular a medium of art in Japan.

Kabuki dance requires hard training through many years together with a real dedication for a perfect performance.

The colours imply various themes and emotions in action in the dance. Red colour represents strong emotions such as fury and heroism while white is used for children, women and youth. Black is used for wicked or base characters and brown is used to indicate selfish characteristics of a person.

Kabuki originated as a religious dance performed solely by female dancers but later male dancers took over the major roles.

Therefore, the present day Kabuki dance is solely performed by men. Though Kabuki has a religious origin, the modern Kabuki centres round multiple secular themes.