歌舞伎 Kabuki ...it is theater...and a little magic

歌舞伎 Kabuki

Kabuki means "song and dance technique" Well isn't that just fitting. I have often said..."don't get give me your song and dance" Yes, my fellow Kabuki lovers...we are about to make the deep dive into everything Kabuki.

I once wrote about the poor reputation of the lemming. In truth, the lemmings actual behavior did not warrant the lemming mythology.

So it is with Kabuki. Jon Lackman wrote in his Slate 2010 article: It's Time to Retire Kabuki:

Pundits use Kabuki as a synonym for “posturing.” The New Republic’s Michael Crowley, for example, has defined it as a “performance, in which nothing substantive is done.” But there’s nothing “kabuki” about the real Kabuki. Kabuki, I’ll have you know,is one of UNESCO’s Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity! And it’s nothing like politics. It does indeed use stylized gestures, expressions, and intonations, but it’s far from empty and monotonous. As the scholar A.C. Scott has written, a great Kabuki actor’s performance will “contain an individuality beneath the unchanging conventions, his symbolism must be something more than imitative repetition.”

First the poor lemmings...now Kabuki. We are emancipating the tattered reputation of words used to no good purpose. I already feel better.

Created around the year 1600, around the same time the English began to form colonies on the American continent, the history of Kabuki is as long as that of the United States and just as multi-faceted. While it barely scratches the surface, the brief description of the history of Kabuki that follows will attempt to give a general overview of the theater.

Kabuki was created by Okuni, a shrine maiden from Izumo Shrine. Her performances in the dry river beds of the ancient capital of Kyoto caused a sensation and soon their scale increased and a number of rival companies arose. Early Kabuki was much different from what is seen today and was comprised mostly of large ensemble dances performed by women. Most of these women acted as prostitutes off stage and finally the government banned women from the stage in an effort to protect public morales, just one in a long history of government restrictions placed on the theater.

Kabuki make up and masks are designed to be works of art in themselves. They are a main idea of Kabuki being very prominent to not only Kabuki itself, but all of Japanese culture. The extravagant and intricate designs on the masks were done by Japanese artists and painters. These people were all very dedicated to their work and are very passionate about making masks. Common inspirations for kabuki mask designs were demons or spirits, wild animals, and humans. Red, white, and black were all very influential and popular colors among masks and Japanese culture. Though, other colors were also used in more complex and unique designs . Masks are the most recognizable feature of ancient Kabuki theater and are highly recognized to this day.