Fuji Musume

Fuji Musume
藤娘
Seki Sanjuro II playing the Wisteria Maiden at the Nakamura-za, print by Utagawa Kunisada ca. 1826
Written by Tsuuchi Hanjuro
Yasuda Abun
Nakata Mansuke
Characters Wisteria Maiden
Date premiered 1826,
Nakamura-za, Edo
Original language Japanese
Genre shosagoto

Fuji Musume (藤娘, The Wisteria Maiden) is a kabuki dance with lyrics written by Katsui Genpachi, choreography by Fujima Taisuke and music by Kineya Rokusaburô IV, first performed in 1826.[1]

Originally part of a set of five different dances performed one after another, Fuji Musume is the only one that has survived.[2] The first time these dances were staged in 1826 at the Nakamura-za in Edo, actor Seki Sanjuro II performed all of them as part of his farewell performance.

One of many revisions to the play, playwright Oka Onitaro and actor Onoe Kikugoro VI created a new, more supernatural version of the dance, staged for the first time in March 1937 at the Kabuki-za. In this version, the maiden becomes the spirit of the wisteria.[1] The next year, performances of the dance by Onoe Baiko VII at the Minami-za in Kyoto[3] and at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo, helped popularized the dance.[4]

Fuji Musume remains a popular and famous dance in the kabuki repertoire.[5]

Characters

  • Wisteria Maiden
  • Nagauta - musical ensamble of singers, shamisen, drums, flute and small gongs

Translation

The play was translated into English by Leonard C. Pronko in Kabuki Plays on Stage III: Darkness and Desire, 1804-1864, edited by James R. Brandon and Samuel L. Leiter and published in 2002.[2]

  • Kabuki Plays on Stage III: Kabuki Plays on Stage III: Darkness and Desire, 1804-1864. (2002) University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0824824556.

References

    1. 1 2 "FUJI MUSUME". kabuki21. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
    2. 1 2 Kabuki Plays on Stage III: Kabuki Plays on Stage III: Darkness and Desire, 1804-1864. (2002) p. 166-169.
    3. ↑ "ONOE BAIKÔ VII". kabuki21. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
    4. ↑ ""Fuji Musumè" ( 藤娘 ) or "Wisteria Maiden" shown in flight". Zen Garden. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
    5. ↑ ""Fuji Musumè" ( 藤娘 ) or "Wisteria Maiden" shown in flight". Zen Garden. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.