This spring has just been loaded with Japanese cultural events, and here's the scoop on another exciting upcoming program. My friends at TomoeArts are supporting the Japan Foundation and Shochiku in promoting Cinema Kabuki's return to Vancouver. If you missed it last year, the gorgeous Bando Tamasaburo V will appear once again in the "Heron Maiden"--a performance not to be missed!!
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DOUBLE-BILL ONE DAY ONLY VANCOUVER SCREENINGS
Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas, 88 West Pender Street, Vancouver
Sunday, February 26:
1:00 p.m. Murder in a Hell of Oil 女殺し油の地獄, 110 minutes, VANCOUVER PREMIER
3:30 p.m. Heron Maiden 鷺娘, 32 minutes
Tickets are $20 (plus tax) for Murder in a Hell of Oil and
$15 (plus tax) for Heron Maiden .
Tickets can be purchased online at www.cineplex.com or in person at the theatre.
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Bando Tamasaburo V in SAGIMUSUME 坂東玉三郎の「鷺娘」
A central dance piece in the kabuki repertoire, Heron Maiden (Sagimusume) features a single dancer in an onnagata, female role. The scene opens with the spirit of a white heron wandering desperately in the snow, then a spectacular quick-change (hikinuki) transformation reveals the heron to have been a beautiful young maiden in a previous life. The maiden's dance relates the joys of finding love and ultimately the tragedy of betrayal that dashes her into hell to be reborn as a beast--the white heron--in her next life. The final moments trace the tragic death of the heron itself, bringing the cycle of death and rebirth full circle.
This relatively short dance number is packed with numerous favorite features of kabuki dance, that are doubly impressive on the big screen. For one, it includes not one, but four hikinuki quick-change transformations, which are always a dramatic (and technical) highlight of such dance numbers. This piece also includes a superb ebizori pose, the exaggerated backward arch featured in the press photo above that expresses heightened dramatic tension and emotion, often reserved for non-human or otherworldly characters. Bando Tamasaburo's performance is mesmerizing and confirms his position as one of the leading (and in many minds THE leading) onnagata performer in kabuki today.
The (pirated) YouTube clips below are taken from a DVD recording of a performance of the same piece and includes invaluable English commentary by Paul M. Griffith (the voice of the Kabuki-za "earphone guide") particularly helpful for those who are not familiar with the piece in particular or with kabuki more generally. I highly recommend taking a look at these before seeing the Cinema Kabuki film. They'll add immensely to the experience.
But don't for a minute think that if you watch these videos on YouTube you don't have to see the film! (I saw it last year and I'll be back to see it again this year!) The fabulous thing about Cinema Kabuki is that it records live productions featuring the greatest Kabuki actors with multiple HD cameras giving you an intimate experience of the performance that is in some ways (dare I say it?) even better than seeing it live! Apparently the screening of these films themselves is an art that requires a technician from Japan to screen properly and is only permitted to be screened in movie theatres on high-quality digital projectors with 6-channel sound.
One rarely has the opportunity to see Tamasaburo--one of the most beautiful and most widely-adored female role dancers in kabuki--perform this, one of his signature roles, in person. With Cinema Kabuki we'll all get a front-row seat!
(Coming soon, more on the Murder in a Hell of Oil performance that will be making its Vancouver premiere with Cinema Kabuki this year.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DOUBLE-BILL ONE DAY ONLY VANCOUVER SCREENINGS
Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas, 88 West Pender Street, Vancouver
Sunday, February 26:
1:00 p.m. Murder in a Hell of Oil 女殺し油の地獄, 110 minutes, VANCOUVER PREMIER
3:30 p.m. Heron Maiden 鷺娘, 32 minutes
Tickets are $20 (plus tax) for Murder in a Hell of Oil and
$15 (plus tax) for Heron Maiden .
Tickets can be purchased online at www.cineplex.com or in person at the theatre.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bando Tamasaburo V in SAGIMUSUME 坂東玉三郎の「鷺娘」
A central dance piece in the kabuki repertoire, Heron Maiden (Sagimusume) features a single dancer in an onnagata, female role. The scene opens with the spirit of a white heron wandering desperately in the snow, then a spectacular quick-change (hikinuki) transformation reveals the heron to have been a beautiful young maiden in a previous life. The maiden's dance relates the joys of finding love and ultimately the tragedy of betrayal that dashes her into hell to be reborn as a beast--the white heron--in her next life. The final moments trace the tragic death of the heron itself, bringing the cycle of death and rebirth full circle.
This relatively short dance number is packed with numerous favorite features of kabuki dance, that are doubly impressive on the big screen. For one, it includes not one, but four hikinuki quick-change transformations, which are always a dramatic (and technical) highlight of such dance numbers. This piece also includes a superb ebizori pose, the exaggerated backward arch featured in the press photo above that expresses heightened dramatic tension and emotion, often reserved for non-human or otherworldly characters. Bando Tamasaburo's performance is mesmerizing and confirms his position as one of the leading (and in many minds THE leading) onnagata performer in kabuki today.
The (pirated) YouTube clips below are taken from a DVD recording of a performance of the same piece and includes invaluable English commentary by Paul M. Griffith (the voice of the Kabuki-za "earphone guide") particularly helpful for those who are not familiar with the piece in particular or with kabuki more generally. I highly recommend taking a look at these before seeing the Cinema Kabuki film. They'll add immensely to the experience.
But don't for a minute think that if you watch these videos on YouTube you don't have to see the film! (I saw it last year and I'll be back to see it again this year!) The fabulous thing about Cinema Kabuki is that it records live productions featuring the greatest Kabuki actors with multiple HD cameras giving you an intimate experience of the performance that is in some ways (dare I say it?) even better than seeing it live! Apparently the screening of these films themselves is an art that requires a technician from Japan to screen properly and is only permitted to be screened in movie theatres on high-quality digital projectors with 6-channel sound.
One rarely has the opportunity to see Tamasaburo--one of the most beautiful and most widely-adored female role dancers in kabuki--perform this, one of his signature roles, in person. With Cinema Kabuki we'll all get a front-row seat!
(Coming soon, more on the Murder in a Hell of Oil performance that will be making its Vancouver premiere with Cinema Kabuki this year.)
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