I have studied, learned, and performed this dance. This actor is beautiful and one of the best dancers I have ever seen. I loved this interpretation. There are many difficult moves that would take months to learn. Thank you for posting this!
Thank you for posting this video and its other half. I've watched quite a few Wisteria Maiden dances now but Tamasaburo far out weighs them all with his grace and delicate gesture. I had to pop this on my faves!!!
Apart from the dance; this dance really reveals the Japanese appreciation for nature and reflects the Shinto religion. The idea of a Wisteria having a feminine Spirit would never have arisen in a Christian culture; the relationship with nature is so different.
I do like the narration so I can understand what's going on, but I'd also love to watch this without the narration, so I can enjoy the music better, particularly when the shamisen guys start rocking out around 6:29.
Tamasaburo visited America to perform Sagi Musume and other dances over 20 years ago. In recent years other kabuki actors have also performed in the US (just not Tamasaburo.)
Dear Natashaaaa, The commentary is beautifully done and does not spoil the video. It adds to a special touch, if you know what I mean. tiffenakou san did a great job and I thank you for this
@myRincon Off course he is still the one of the best Kabuki "actress". Tamasaburo will perfome for one month in October 2010 at the theater Akasaka Act in Tokyo.
This is just my guess but maybe it has something to do with Tamasaburo III's unexpected death in New York in 1905. She died of an undiagnosed heart disease at age 22 while she was staying in NY studying Broadway theater. (And yes, Tamasaburo III was a woman -- one of the only a handful of female actresses who succeeded such traditional Kabuki name.) After her, her nephew became Tamasaburo IV (and later Morita Kanya XIV), and then his adopted son is the Tamasaburo V, the one in question.
Even though I'm Ixorafy (ixorafy comes from my section in second year "Ixora" which is a short term for "Ixora Coccinea", a flower known as East Indian Jasmine which is native to Asia. Its a red flower with a long and soft hollow tube which commonly has four petals even though in rare occasions go to seven petals), I still love Wisterias. The name is cool and the color and the way it is shown is truly awesome.
Kabuki nowadays is not only for men, but leading actors and leading theaters of Japan do not allow women. You can find some troupes with women even in tachiyaku roles, though I do not really think you will like it. Even female roles need strong movements, and the tradition has been built up on men bodies, that is why women do not look good in Kabuki theatre
I thought that the voiceover was a little overbearing. The word "overbearing": "kana-saga-waga-ma", sounds like "maga-naga", famous for its pompous professors of japanese.
