Kabuki: "The Avant Garde Theatre" Turned "The Skill of Singing and Dancing"

Yeah, so, i went to Kabuki. It was about an hour away (as the bus toddles), near Fushimi Station. I was in the theatre for about 5 hours. My ass hurt. Ah, but don't let me give you the wrong impression. These are side details. I am thrilled to have gone. There were 4 separate performances. A dance, a ceremony, another dance, and a play. The play was about the length of the first three events. The first dance was Ayatsuri Sanbaso: Pulled by Thread. This was amazing. It started with an auspicious and ancient dance by these two guys, then they both retired off stage. One of them returned and opened a box set on the stage to reveal a puppet (an actor) which he pulled from the box and set in the middle of the stage. He was lying facedown with his legs folded under him, Japanese style (duh). The "Puppetmaster" a.k.a. Senzai (Who represents eternal youth), walks up behind the puppet and grasps an (imaginary) string above Sanbaso's (the puppet's) hand, and swings his hand left and right then up and down in a complex movement. Without being able to see Senzai's movement or when it started, Sanbaso the puppet moves his hand perfectly in sync with Senzai, as if his hand was really tugged by a string. After checking to see if all Sambaso's strings are ok, Senzai sets him dancing (see photo (not my photo by the way, but same dance)). It was spectacular. Sambaso making me believe that he was really attached to strings and also dancing beautifully is the very reason that they use the same words for kabuki players and western players: actors. This is what ties them together. Sugoi dayo.
Next was the ceremony bestowing a new stage name to an actor (Kabuku?) The really good Kabuki actors all use stage names of the most famous actors from history. You can't just take a name for yourself; the Kabuki theatre must decide that you deserve it. I was present when Nakamura Ganjiro was awarded the name Sakata Tojuro. It wasn't thrillingly interesting, as most awards ceremonies aren't, but it was fairly short. All of the other actors gave him praise in their own words. Most of them, i gather, were relatively funny. I didn't think so, but the japanese speakers did.
Next was Makura Jishi: A Lion Dance by a courtesan. This was also quite awe-inspiring. It started with the dance of a courtesan, normal, depressed by the life of courtesanity, until she becomes ingrossed with the study of a peony. For you cultural troglodites, the peony has been associated with the lion in Japanese culture. Eventually, she becomes filled with the spirit of a lion. This is shown by an onstage costume change; her outer layer of clothing is removed by assistants to reveal a new colour. After a more liony kind of dance, she leaves the stage for a while while two other Oyama (men playing women) do a dance of butterflies. Then they exit and the courtesan comes back, this time fully possessed by the lion's spirit. She looked a lot like this picture to the right, only more magnificent in motion. The dance at this point was completely different. Her first dance typified the courtesan. Here again the actor showed his skill by making me believe that he was a woman who was a lion, no easy feat, in pantomime no less. The lion dance was amazing. Did i mention that the kabuki musicians were playing for the whole of the dances? Singers (chanters more like (moaners and wailers actually)), drummers, and Shamisen players. At some point in the Makura Jishi, there was a wicked double shamisen solo. These guys were like the Eric Claptons of Kabuki. They rocked. And i am not just saying that they played really well; i am saying it was Rock 'n' Roll, capital letters and all. If you take the timeless, cultureless essence of Rock and insert it into a shamisen solo, you have an idea as to what i heard. Anyway, the lion dance was accompanied by ridiculously powerful drumming, some from offstage. I was on the edge of my seat. Then, from a trapdoor, the butterfly Oyama 女形(literally: female shape) rose onto the scene and joined the courtesan/lion. The lion was quite surely their master. Sweeping them back and forth with its fan. Oh, man it was cool. And there was another on stage costume change. All three of the actors switched to the most magnificent kimonos yet. I wish i had a camera. And then, finally, it was over. There was a long intermission where we ate our field-trip sandwiches in the atrium. It was uncomfortable, since we were surrounded by vendors selling really expensive food, but we were eating for free. Oh, well, stick it to the Man.
Finally, the play: Shinza the Hairdresser. No kidding. It isn't how you think. Hairdressing is just a front for Izerumi Shinza (Tattoo Shinza) a convict. He basically tricks a young couple into eloping, kidnaps the girl, and waits for ransom offers. However, he gets pwned by a canny landlord. It was kinda enjoyable, but despite the fact that i read the synopsis beforehand, i had trouble identifying who was who, so most of the time i couldn't follow the plot. It was a long play. It ended with a bit of a swordfight, at which point i had no idea who was fighting whom. I assumed that the person who won was Shinza, which was a bit of a let down, but later i reread the synopsis and found that i had it backwards. The romantic lead sort of disappeared early in the play and i kept waiting for him to resurface, but inexplicably, there was no reunion scene for the two lovers; in fact the audience is left completely ignorant of their fate. Also the girl's family's financial problems are never really solved. Definitely not a Western ending, and, as such, nearly completely opaque to me. Oh well, it was interesting. I was kind of embarrassed that some of the Ryuugakusei were sleeping during the performance, but i don't think they were too conspicuous. Oh well, coming up next is a short (hopefully) post about my adventures at Nanzan Kyoukai and perhaps a small note of my Pumpkin Pie Performance Party Particulars-and i'm done