Renjishi

Renjishi
連獅子
Nakamura Shichinosuke II performing Renjishi in Yokohama, 2010
Written by Kawatake Mokuami (lyrics)
Hanayagi Jusuke I (choreography)
Date premiered July 1872,
Murayama-za, Tokyo
Original language Japanese
Genre shosagoto

Renjishi (連獅子), or Two Lions, is a kabuki dance with lyrics written by Kawatake Mokuami, choreography by Hanayagi Jusuke I and music by Kineya Shōjirō III and Kineya Katsusaburō II, first performed in 1872.

Originally staged for a private dance recital in 1861, it was later expanded and reused in July 1872 as the fourth act for another play at the Murayama-za in Tokyo. Renjishi continued to evolve, with two different sets of music being used (both still performed), and the comic interlude added in 1901.[1] A later version was created for one father and two lion cubs.[2]

One of many kabuki works based on the noh play Shakkyō (The Stone Bridge), in the last stages of Renjishi development as a kabuki dance it was brought closer back to the noh version. In particular, in the February 1901 performance at the Tokyo-za, Renjishi was turned into a matsubame mono (pine-board play), modifying the stage to replicate the noh stage's green pine tree background.[1]

It is a popular dance in the kabuki repertoire[2] and it is performed often (the last performance at the Kabuki-za was in July 2017).

Characters

Performances

The first performance of Renjishi happened at a private dance recital in May 1861 at the Nakamura-rō, a restaurant in the Ryōgoku are in Edo. The recital celebrated the name succession of the famous dance master Hanayagi Jusuke I (1821–1903) by his son Hanayagi Yoshijirō.[2] Father and son performed the original dance, with Jusuke's choreography and Kawatake Mokuami's lyrics. The performance took place in a very simple setting, with only a golden screen, and no costumes or makeup.[1] This unadorned style of dance is called suodori.[3]

The dance made its debut at the kabuki stage in July 1872 at the Murayama-za in Tokyo, as the fourth act for another play. Bandō Hikosaburō V played the role of the parent lion, and Sawamura Tosshō II the role of the cub lion.[2]

Renjishi was staged at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo in July 2017, with Ichikawa Ebizō XI as the parent lion and Bandō Minosuke II as the cub.[4]

Translation

The play was translated into English by Paul M. Griffith in Kabuki Plays on Stage IV: Restoration and Reform, 1872-1905, edited by James R. Brandon and Samuel L. Leiter and published in 2003.[1]

  • Kabuki Plays on Stage IV: Restoration and Reform, 1872-1905. (2003) University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 9780824825744.

See also

References

    1. 1 2 3 4 Kabuki Plays on Stage IV: Restoration and Reform, 1872-1905. (2003) p. 40-43.
    2. 1 2 3 4 "RENJISHI". kabuki21. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
    3. ↑ "Suodori in Kabuki Glossary". Kabuki21. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
    4. ↑ "July 2017". Kabuki21. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
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