2023 Nihon Byo Recital Traditional Japanese Dance is Performing Art Originated From Traditional Performing Art of Kabuki, History About 400 YearsNEW

Japan Performing Arts, Inc. will hold our recital of traditional Japanese dance on Saturday, June 3rd, at Opera America (330 7th Ave, 7th floor). 

Our Nihon Buyo Recital will present about 8 performers. They are JPA traditional Japanese dance students.

Traditional Japanese dance is a performing art that originated from the traditional performing art of Kabuki, and has a history of about 400 years. Kabuki was the musical entertainment of the common people in the Edo period and introduced many historical stories. Nihon buyo (Japanese dance) is an excerpt from the kabuki performance that specializes in dancing.

Unlike Kabuki, Nihon Buyo opened its discipline for both genders (Kabuki and other traditional performing arts were often exclusively for male because of their historical background), so it has been developed as an entertainment for anyone of any age. Eventually Nihon Buyo derivatives counted as many as over 200 schools. Also, unlike other casual traditional dances like the ones performed at regional festivals, Nihon Buyo requires years of training and experience pursuing the art’s perfection by internalizing many details just like Kabuki actors do. Thus Nihon Buyo is a traditional art form for stages (as opposed to street art format).

Nihon Buyo’s beautiful movements are gradually acquired through learning the deliberately incorporated patterns of the beginner level choreography dance pieces. Then the dancers can nurture their abilities by challenging more difficult dance moves of advanced level dance pieces.

At JPA Nihon Buyo Recital this time, you can see the achievements of the beginner, intermediate, and advanced level students. The highlight of this recital will be the achievements of beginner level students after their six months of Nihon Buyo training, Midori Anami & Akiko Matsumoto, upper level dancers’ gender differentiated dancing movements, and the instructor, Yuko Hamada’s display of the differences between Suodori and Full Costume dances.

Many people (especially women) would study Nihon Buyo as a part of traditional Japanese cultural etiquette like tea ceremony and flower arrangement until several decades ago. Today, only a small percentage of people in Japan learn these forms of traditional arts. JPA has been making efforts in passing down these traditional art forms. We really appreciate your support.

In this recital, we will be joined by our friends from the Shamisen Society, who will perform during our Japanese dance performance.

Event  Date
June 3, 2023

Event Time
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Admission Fee
$15 - Cash Only

Performance Order
Our emcee will give explanation on each piece, so you can enjoy watching the dance even more with the background knowledge. There are two dance pieces that would be performed twice because they are short ones. Nagauta will be performed by NY de Nagauta (三友会・Sanyu-kai) between Nihon Buyo performances.

(3pm)

Onatsu Kyoran - Suodori / お夏狂乱 Performed by Yuko Hamada

Ame no Goro - Suodori / 雨の-郎 Performed by Midori Anami

Matsu no Midori - Suodori / 松の Performed by Akiko Matsumoto

Ume nimo Haru / 梅にも春 Performed by Nancy Castro & Aasiya Van

Matsu no Midori (Shamisen）/ 松の and Oedo Nihonbashi (Shamisen) / 大江戸本橋　Performed by Geoff Gersh, Yukihiro Urisaka, Kimiko Shimizu, Megumi Imai, Asako Jinbo, Travis Suzaka

Ume no Sakae / 梅の栄 Performed by Noriko Sakamoto, Lee Douglass, Mana Kobuchi

Echigo Jishi / 越後獅子 Performed by Kumiko Martin (singer), Geoff Gersh, Yukihiro Urisaka, Kimiko Shimizu, Megumi Imai, Asako Jinbo, Travis Suzaka

(4pm) INTERMISSION (10 min)

Ume nimo Haru / 梅にも春 Performed by Nancy Castro & Aasiya Van

Shunkyo (Shamisen) / 春興 Performed by Geoff Gersh & Travis Suzaka

Ume no Sakae / 梅の栄 Performed by Noriko Sakamoto, Lee Douglass, Mana Kobuchi,

Kane no Misaki - Full costume / 鐘の岬 Performed by Akiko Matsumoto

Karigane - Full costume / 雁 Performed by Midori Anami

Onatsu Kyoran - Full costume / お夏狂乱 Performed by Yuko Hamada

Suodori: Usually when performing a piece of Nihon Buyo on stage, the dancers wear the costumes and the makeup specifically designated for the piece. Suodori is the same dance without the specific costume, but wearing a regular kimono with white makeup.

Full Costume: It indicates wearing the fully designated costume and white makeup for the dance piece.