List: Kabuki

by likeorhate

•  Kabuki

  Kabuki is the highly stylized classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing (歌), dance (舞), and skill (伎). Kabuki is therefore sometimes translated as "the art of singing and dancing. " These are, however, ateji characters which do not reflect actual etymology.

  

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•  Mie (pose)

  The mie pose (見え　or 見得, mie, pronounced 'mee-eh'), a powerful and emotional pose struck by an actor, who then freezes for a moment, is a distinctive element of aragoto Kabuki performance. Mie means 'appearance' or 'visible' in Japanese, and one of the primary purposes of this convention is to draw attention to a particularly important or powerful portion of the performance. It is meant to show a character's emotions at their peak, and can often be a very powerful pose.

  

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•  Izumo no Okuni

  Okuni (1572?-?) was the originator of kabuki theater. She was believed to be a miko at the Grand Shrine of Izumo who began performing this new style of dancing, singing, and acting in the dry riverbeds of Kyoto.

  

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•  Nagauta

  Nagauta, literally "long song", is a kind of traditional Japanese music which accompanies the kabuki theater. They were developed around 1740. Influences included the vocal yōkyoku style used in noh theater, and instruments including the shamisen and various kinds of drums. The shamisen, a plucked lute with three strings, is a very popular instrument in nagauta. Nagauta performers generally play the shamisen and sing simultaneously.

  

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•  Kagema

  Kagema (陰間) is a historical Japanese term for young male prostitutes. Kagema were often passed off as apprentice kabuki actors (who were themselves often prostitutes on the side) and catered to a mixed male and female clientele. For male clients, the preferred service was anal sex; homosexual fellatio is almost unmentioned in Tokugawa-era documents. Kagema who were not affiliated with an actual kabuki theatre could be hired through male brothels or those teahouses specializing in kagema.

  

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•  Hanamichi

  The hanamichi is an extra stage section used in Japanese kabuki theater. It is a long, raised platform that runs, left of center, from the back of the theater, through the audience, to connect with the main stage. Generally it is used for characters' entrances and exits, though it can also be used for asides or scenes taking place apart from the main action. In this use, it can be seen as an alley theater connecting to a larger stage.

  

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•  Kuroko

  Kuroko or kurogo are stagehands in traditional Japanese theatre, who dress all in black. In kabuki, the kuroko serve many of the same purposes as running crew. They move scenery and props on stage, aiding in scene changes and costume changes. They will also often play the role of animals, will-o-the-wisps, or other roles which are played not by an actor in full costume, but by holding a prop.

  

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•  Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.

  Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. is a 1991 comedic superhero film directed by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz and distributed by Troma Entertainment.

  

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•  Za Kabuki

  Za Kabuki, founded in 1976 at the Australian National University, is the longest running Kabuki troupe outside of Japan. Directed by Mr. Shun Ikeda of the ANU Japan Centre, with a cast and crew consisting mainly of ANU Japanese students, the troupe performs traditional Kabuki plays almost entirely in classical Japanese, with some English translation and ad-libs inserted to assist the mainly English-speaking audiences.

  

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•  Yakusha-e

  Yakusha-e (役者絵), often referred to as "actor prints" in English, are Japanese woodblock prints or, rarely, paintings, of kabuki actors, particularly those done in the ukiyo-e style popular through the Edo period (1603-1867) and into the beginnings of the 20th century. Most strictly, the term yakusha-e refers solely to portraits of individual artists (or sometimes pairs, as seen in this work by Sharaku).

  

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•  Shūmei

  Shūmei (襲名, lit. name succession) are grand naming ceremonies held in Kabuki theatre. Most often, a number of actors will participate in a single ceremony, taking on new stage-names. These stagenames, most often those of the actor's father, grandfather, or teacher, are passed down between generations of actors' lineages, and hold great honor and importance.

  

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•  Keren (kabuki)

  Keren (外連, lit. "outside party", or ケレン) are stagecraft tricks used in Japanese kabuki theater, making use of trapdoors, revolving stages, and other equipment. Often translated as "playing to the gallery," many drama enthusiasts consider these sorts of adaptations to be demeaning to the art of kabuki.

  

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•  Kabuki Jūhachiban

  The Kabuki Jūhachiban (歌舞伎十八番), or Eighteen Best Kabuki Plays, is a set of kabuki plays, strongly associated with the Ichikawa Danjūrō line of actors ever since their premieres, and chosen (assembled as "the eighteen") later by actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VII (1800-1832) as the greatest representations of the aragoto style in the repertoire. The Danjūrō line has continued to dominate the leading roles, and the printing and production of these plays ever since.

  

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•  Kamigata

  Kamigata (上方) is a region of Japan referring to the cities of Kyoto and Osaka; the term is used particularly when discussing elements of Edo period urban culture such as ukiyo-e and kabuki, and when making a comparison to the urban culture of the Edo/Tokyo region. Kabuki, ukiyo-e, and many of the other related fields of popular and urban culture of the Edo period in fact originated in Kamigata before being transmitted to Edo.

  

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•  Kumadori

  Kumadori is stage makeup worn by kabuki actors, particularly when performing in the bold and bombastic aragoto style. Kumadori makeup generally consists of brightly colored stripes or patterns over a white foundation, the colors and patterns symbolizing aspects of the actor's character. Though kumadori was originated and developed extensively by members of the Ichikawa Danjūrō line of actors, some conventions are creations of the Onoe Kikugorō line.

  

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•  Actors' Analects

  The Actors' Analects (役者論語, Yakusha Rongo) is a collection of 17th and early 18th century writings on the practice and aesthetics of acting in Japan's kabuki theatre form, compiled during or around the Genroku era (1688-1704).

  

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•  Jidaimono

  Jidaimono (時代物) are Japanese kabuki or jōruri plays which feature historical plots and characters, often famous samurai battles. These are in contrast to sewamono (世話物), contemporary plays, which generally focus on commoners and domestic issues. Jidaimono is usually translated as "period plays"; film and television productions in this mode are called jidaigeki (時代劇), and share much of the same basic features.

  

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•  Amayo no Sanbai Kigen

  Amayo no Sanbai Kigen (雨夜三盃機嫌) is an illustrated book depicting forty-four Kamigata kabuki actors of the time. It was originally published in 1693 as a woodblock printed book by Bokutekian and Sōgyū. Some of the actors included are: Ogino Samanojō I Yamashita Saizaburō Mizuki Tatsunosuke I Sodeoka Masanosuke Tamamura Tsuyanosuke Yoshizawa Ayame I Onogawa Ugenji Saruwaka Kosanza Sodesaki Karyū I Sakata Tōkurō Iwai Heijirō Sodesaki Iroha

  

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•  Wagoto

  Wagoto, or soft style, is a style of kabuki acting that emphasizes realistic speech and gestures. Wagoto actors typically do not employ the exaggerated makeup and costuming common to the more exaggerated aragoto (rough) style. Wagoto was pioneered by Sakata Tōjūrō I, an actor in the Kamigata region. Plays that emphasize wagoto roles are typically tragic romances.

  

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•  Ichimura Uzaemon XI

  Ichimura Uzaemon XI (1791-11 July 1820) was a zamoto (theatre owner-manager) of the Ichimura-za kabuki theatre in Edo, Japan. Like many zamoto, he was raised in a kabuki family and trained to be an actor, but rarely actually appeared on stage.

  

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•  Hyōbanki

  Hyōbanki (評判記) were compilations of rankings and critiques of kabuki actors and courtesans published in Edo period Japan. They were generally published at the new year in Edo and Kamigata, reviewing and ranking the courtesans and actors of the previous year. Along with ukiyo-e woodblock prints and other publications, hyōbanki were important elements in the urban popular culture of the period.

  

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•  Minami-za

  Minami-za is the primary kabuki theatre in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded in 1610 as Shijō Minami-za. The current building with 1,086 seats was built in 1929.

  

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•  Ronald Cavaye

  Ronald Cavaye (born August 1951) is a British pianist, born in England and a resident of the United Kingdom. He is a classical pianist and writer.

  

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•  Kabuki dance

  In common English usage, a Kabuki dance is an activity or drama carried out in real life in a predictable or stylized fashion, reminiscent of the Kabuki style of Japanese stage play. For example, Tom Brokaw used the term to describe U.S. Democratic party and U.S. Republican party political conventions which purport to nominate their respective U.S. Presidential candidates when whom the nominee will be is actually known well beforehand.

  

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•  Leonard Pronko

  Leonard C. Pronko is Professor of Theatre at Pomona College in Claremont, California. Since 1965, he has directed some twenty kabuki productions in English at the college and elsewhere. In 1970, he was the first non-Japanese to study at the Kabuki Training Program at the National Theatre of Japan. He has studied kabuki dance with a number of eminent dance teachers both in the U.S. and in Japan. In 1972, Pronko received a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his kabuki productions.

  

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