THE LION DANCE Kagamijishi
Kikugoro Onoe VI
Filmed in 1935 Directed by Yasujirô Ozu
As you all know, Kabuki actor Kikugoro Onoe VI
is the most talented of the last few years.
He inherited his quick-wittedness from his father Kikugoro V
while showing a brilliant inspiration
worthy of the children of Edo.
He was born in a great kabuki family ruled by respect and tradition.
Thus he was inevitably spoiled.
But he also had a mischievous side, being very quick-witted,
that allowed him to bear his father's authority.
The father entrusted his son's education to Danjuro Ichikawa IX.
Kikugoro VI became the heir
of both the name and the art of Kikugoro V.
He acquired strong basis in kabuki dance
with master Danjuro IX during his youth.
But he was only 19 years old
when his master died.
His full potential hadn't revealed itself yet.
It was his innate talent and efforts
that allowed him to develop his technique.
When he's dancing, he doesn't neglect
any word or move.
He's always looking for perfection.
That's where the strength of his dance lied
and it made it sublime.
Sometimes he had
bright and happy glorious feats.
Among his famous dances, we can mention first his feminine roles in Dojoji,
Fujimusume and Kamuro.
His corpulence was a great help to
play young ingenuous girls with generous curves.
When he played for the first time the role of Kamuro,
who is 12-13 years old girl,
the scenery had to be extended.
All his moves and manners had
a look of a naive and adorable young girl.
And in Yasuna's role,
he expressed a noble erotism
losing its reason in the spring melancholy.
He played a funny and innocent boy with the role of Kisen.
For Sanbaso's role,
requiring a naive and gay dance,
his performance was never lacking nobility and rigour.
For No theatre roles,
like Tomomori and Tuchigumo that he was interpreting with brilliance,
he wasn't just adapting them to kabuki.
He succesfully showed humanity
and kabuki's special, different from No.
The Kagamijishi (Lion Dance) is known as the most difficult to perform.
On top of the complexity of the moves and of the expression of the feelings,
this dance requires a lot of stamina.
Nobody else would have managed to preform this dance so perfectly.
All the lion dances come from No theatre's shakku.
Among the oldest ones, there's the Makurajishi.
This dance includes a courtesan. But Danjuro IX moved the scenery
to a big manor the evening of a new year ceremony.
Yayoi, a peasant, is boiling water to make some tea.
An old lady is coming to get her.
Shyly, the peasant shows her her favorite dance.
Then, near the end of the dance,
when she's touching the lion's head,
the lion's spirit seizes her.
She vanishes then reappears as a lion.
She's dancing with a butterfly.
The script was written by a revolutionary of this time,
Ouchi Fukuchi, in 1893.
Kikugoro VI played it for the first time in 1914. He was barely 30 years old.
This movie was made in 1935
when he was 51 years old,
with the help of the Kokusai Bunka Shinko-kai
to promote the art of Japanese dance abroad.
That's why it's missing the first Yayoi dance
of which some parts have been modified.
At some point, it's not the usual choreography.
But the heart and the highlight of the show weren't changed.
Among the key scenes, we can name
the description opening with "In this time, the peonies...",
in which he's contemplating the falling petals.
It's the famous scene of the first act,
one of the hardest to perform.
We can admire his performance
when he's attracted by the lion's spirit despite his fear,
then the scene where, once he's become a lion,
he's shaking his long and heavy mane with constancy and vigor
to incarnate an intrepid lion.
Those performances require moral strength and technique.
The lion dance must express strength and happiness.
And the curtain must fall on a calm lion.
By watching this Kagamijishi film interpreted by Kikugoro VI,
and listening to the final line, "Under the lion star...",
we can't help thinking that this line
is mentioning both the actor and the lion.
THE END