Thursday, November 29, 2012

Gion Corner: Kyomai (Kyoto Style Dance) (video)


May 7, 2008
Gion Corner: Kyoto Traditional Music Center

Sharing with you a video (albeit a bit shaky) of one of the performances I saw while there.

"Since 1962, Gion Corner is a popular night spot where tourists can experience an overview of 7 kinds of Japanese traditional arts and entertainment in single setting: Kyoto style Dance, Flower Arrangement, Tea Ceremony, Japanese Harp, Comic Play, Court Music and Puppet Play."

Two types of Japanese dance: 

Odori - originated frrom Edo period (17th century), springing out of Kabuki drama.

Mai - originated from Western part of Japan, usually performed in Japanese rooms instead of the stage. It was influenced by Noh Drama. Kyomai was born in the 17th century and developed further during the Tokugawa period.

- Jul 9, '08 2:06 AM

6 comments:

  1. delete reply
    chitoirigo wrote on Jul 9, ’08
    Parang nabo-bosesan kita Cat. Ikaw ba yung kumakanta?

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    hugzone wrote on Jul 9, ’08
    How authentic or how stylized could this performance be? I suppose through the years, the forms and movements evolve and there are different schools that affect them.

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    cuh888 wrote on Jul 9, ’08
    am in for the costumes ….whenever I re-read Memoirs of a Geisha, the dance is better in my imagination…as in super graceful na parang nanonood ka ng anghel…

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    cuh888 wrote on Jul 9, ’08
    Chito ha! if kumanta ako, e di nasara na to ng di oras…hehehe…

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    chitoirigo wrote on Jul 9, ’08
    cuh888 said
    Memoirs of a Geisha
    Zhang Ziyi ulit.

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    cuh888 wrote on Jul 9, ’08
    when you saw the MoaG film ok ba for you si ZZ? I was wondering if Japanese na actress…but since ZZ is more famous…and bagay din sa kanya coz of her dance experience…iba talaga ang move for action if may ganon ka na background..

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    chitoirigo wrote on Jul 9, ’08, edited on Jul 9, ’08
    cuh888 said
    when you saw the MoaG film ok ba for you si ZZ?
    Actually, IMHO, this is one case where the film miserably fails to capture the grandeur and drama of the book version. And while I like ZZ, I think it was really quite awkward for her, given her already challenged-manner of speaking English, to be mimicking a Japanese! Her dance scene was also like very pilit na pilit, i.e. parang malayong-malayo sa sayaw ng mga Geisha. Parang beerhouse show na Japanese ang theme. Kung action movie ito, kung fu or martial arts, ZZ would have gotten me glued to the screen every minute of the movie.

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  2. edit delete reply
    cuh888 wrote on Jul 9, ’08
    wow Chito, some other people would not be really able to distinguish between Chinese-accented English and Japanese-accented English…

    natawa ako sa sabi mog na beerhouse show…I must admit though na di ko naman nakita talga ang geisha na sumayaw so medyo I was bewildered by the dance scene (I am assuming you are referring to the scene na nakapatong sya on those very tall “bakya” este..geta?)

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    chitoirigo wrote on Jul 9, ’08
    cuh888 said
    (I am assuming you are referring to the scene na nakapatong sya on those very tall “bakya”
    Yes, that’s exactly the scene I was referring to. She was then being “introduced” as the the up and coming star geisha and it really was the old Japanese “beerhouse” type of place. Medyo pang mayaman nga lang.

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    chitoirigo wrote on Jul 9, ’08
    cuh888 said
    some other people would not be really able to distinguish between Chinese-accented English and Japanese-accented English…
    Having seen a lot of English version movies where ZZ starred, medyo kabisado ko na ang kanyang “punto.”

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    cuh888 wrote on Jul 10, ’08
    chitoirigo said
    it really was the old Japanese “beerhouse” type of place. Medyo pang mayaman nga lang.
    as of this writing, I can’t remember how it was described in the book for her dance….what I didn’t like about the movie version part of the dance was that parang loko-loko nga sya with all the waving about of her hair (if memory serves me right and di naghalo ang movies sa utak ko)…

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  3. I suppose when one thinks of geishas nga..its the refined and restrained graceful dance..but maybe in the book it was supposed to be ‘dramatic’

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    chitoirigo wrote on Jul 10, ’08
    cuh888 said
    .what I didn’t like about the movie version part of the dance was that parang loko-loko nga sya with all the waving about of her hair
    Ang tawag ‘ata dun ay “snow dance.” Kakatawa nga yung sandals nya dun. Almost one foot high! Nawala tuloy yung dapat dramatic effect nung eksena.

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    cuh888 wrote on Jul 10, ’08
    aha! a stray thought occurred to me while reading your answer about the snow dance and those sandals…baka nga kailangan kc sa deep ng snow, mag sink in yung feet…hehehehe…(yeah, alam ko dapat flat ang showshoes di ba?)

    maybe its a matter of culture…for them a dance like that should have those kinds of footgear…

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    chitoirigo wrote on Jul 10, ’08
    cuh888 said
    maybe its a matter of culture…for them a dance like that should have those kinds of footgear…
    Parang ang nabasa ko yata tungkol dito ay sadyang ginawa yun ng direktor (yung tall clogs), para talagang mag stand-out vs other geisha dance performances. Ok lang naman yung magpa-unique. Pero parang uber naman ‘ata.

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    cuh888 wrote on Jul 10, ’08
    chitoirigo said
    Ok lang naman yung magpa-unique. Pero parang uber naman ‘ata.
    that has got me thinking, naturally they would consult an expert on Japanese culture and geishas on this kind of stuff right? or baka di na…

    coz…my impression of the Japanese culture is that its more of subtlety…i.e. if the geisha is to stand out, it would not be because of some uber-unique tall clogs (from your post) but as to how she does her movements…

    ay nako, di na lang ako mag-comment siguro on that…after all nobody is really perfect…while ZZ really stands out in her action movies…maybe for “Sayuri” (I think thats how it was called as a film in Japan), it just wasn’t the right showcase for her talents…

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    chitoirigo wrote on Jul 10, ’08
    cuh888 said
    it just wasn’t the right showcase for her talents…
    Amen.

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  4. cuh888 wrote on Jul 11, ’08
    ..dapat ako yon! mwahaha!

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    stormlizard wrote on Sep 24
    Very niceCat. I’ve nicked a copy. John )

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    cuh888 wrote on Sep 24, edited on Sep 24
    sure thing…glad you liked it John

    not bad for a Kodak cam I think

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    stormlizard wrote on Sep 24
    cuh888 said
    sure thing…glad you liked it John

    not bad for a Kodak cam I think
    It’s great, I’ve uploaded it to Ipernity. In the description box I’ve written “A gift from Katisha, filmed by Katisha.

    I could not download any of your music, I can download my own, however I don’t need to as I have it here anyway.
    The “Download Media tool” refuses to work for me, it tells me I must either install FF or Chrome.
    Although it is possible to import to Ipernity from another web site using the URL it will only work until MP cut us off due to the link. Other sites should be OK though.

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    cuh888 wrote on Sep 24
    stormlizard said
    It’s great, I’ve uploaded it to Ipernity. In the description box I’ve written “A gift from Katisha, filmed by Katisha.

    I could not download any of your music, I can download my own, however I don’t need to as I have it here anyway.
    The “Download Media tool” refuses to work for me, it tells me I must either install FF or Chrome.
    Although it is possible to import to Ipernity from another web site using the URL it will only work until MP cut us off due to the link. Other sites should be OK though.
    hey, thanks John…am glad its ok in Ipernity, though I was really hoping they had a tool to download it, I guess I should thank my lucky stars that I have few videos only…versus photo albums.

    As for Download Media, I’m more really for getting the comments (like what I have for the Download to Blogger)…at least most of the photos I have copies on the hard disk..

    for the music, argh…

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  5. delete reply
    stormlizard wrote on Sep 24
    cuh888 said
    for the music, argh…
    When I go to my Music I see the Player above the play list, to the right of each song it says “DOWNLOAD”
    does it say that on yours ?

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    cuh888 wrote on Sep 24
    John…a question first on video…how does one download it?

    I will check the Music later…I think as owner,I can download my own..but for the video now…I wasn’t sure how to go on about downloading my own…

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    stormlizard wrote on Sep 24
    cuh888 said
    John…a question first on video…how does one download it?

    I will check the Music later…I think as owner,I can download my own..but for the video now…I wasn’t sure how to go on about downloading my own…
    Choose a video, then when it enlarges it shoud say “Download the original (file name/format) if it does just click on that part and down it comes.

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    cuh888 wrote on Sep 24
    hmm..it doesn’t enlarge in my case, I tried enlarging it earlier, it just says press Esc to exit full screen mode.

    What browser do you use? maybe I should try in IE

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    cuh888 wrote on Sep 24, edited on Sep 24
    it doesn’t work in IE..waaah..I can’t download it…maybe it needs a MAC or maybe Premium account…

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    stormlizard wrote on Sep 24, edited on Sep 24
    cuh888 said
    hmm..it doesn’t enlarge in my case, I tried enlarging it earlier, it just says press Esc to exit full screen mode.

    What browser do you use? maybe I should try in IE
    I did not mean enlarge the screen area, I meant when you’ve chosen the video it enlarges so you can run it, don’t run it just look to see what it says beneath the frame.
    I use IE8 but i doubt if it makes any difference, not sure though.

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    cuh888 wrote on Sep 24, edited on Sep 24
    So I go to the video post.
    I can see the body of my description….and then the actual video.
    Before running, I don’t see any message…

    I click on it to run (its inside still the frame)…
    but I don’t see any other message. Dear me.

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  6. delete reply
    stormlizard wrote on Sep 24
    cuh888 said
    it doesn’t work in IE..waaah..I can’t download it…maybe it needs a MAC or maybe Premium account…
    Not a MAC, but perhaps yes to the Premium account.

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    cuh888 wrote on Sep 24
    stormlizard said
    Not a MAC, but perhaps yes to the Premium account.
    I was afraid of that…

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    stormlizard wrote on Sep 24

    This is how I saw it when I nicked it.

    lol

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    cuh888 wrote on Sep 25, edited on Sep 25
    for the love of Multiply….there’s nothing like “Download…” message when I look at my post…!

    Curses!

    Where is the justice in this? its mine, I should be able to get it…grrrr…

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    stormlizard wrote on Sep 25, edited on Sep 25
    I have the same NEGATIVE results when looking at my Alan Johnson, Robwell and Misse2pus test pages, they are not “P” pages.
    It is a “Damn” nuisance that Multiply have not respnded to the many requests by “P” users to convert all users to “P” status while they have a chance rescue any valuble material.

    May they “Naspers/Multiply” be infested with a thousand fleas, and loose the abillity to scrach where it itches.

    lol
    Comment deleted at the request of the author.

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    cuh888 wrote on Sep 25, edited on Sep 25
    stormlizard said
    It is a “Damn” nuisance that Multiply have not respnded to the many requests by “P” users to convert all users to “P” status while they have a chance rescue any valuble material.

    May they “Naspers/Multiply” be infested with a thousand fleas, and loose the abillity to scrach where it itches.
    may they be cursed by a hunger as if they had not eaten for a month, and then placed in front of a beautiful array of a thousand dishes in a buffet (well, my comparisons usually tend towards food hehe)

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    stormlizard wrote on Sep 25
    cuh888 said
    may they be cursed by a hunger as if they had not eaten for a month, and then placed in front of a beautiful array of a thousand dishes in a buffet (well, my comparisons usually tend towards food hehe
    LMAO.

    ReplyDelete