Modernity versus Tradition

Danced by Yasuko Yokoshi.
Lighting: Roderick Murray.
Choreography: Masumi Seyama VI.

Yasuko Yokoshi presented her contemporary interpretation of the classical Japanese dance, ‘A woman and a bell at Dojoji temple’ on the opening night of the Dublin Dance Festival (DDF) 2011 and on May 14th at the IMMA. Equipped only with a cursory knowledge of the dance-drama style Kabuki1 which originated in Japan in the early 1600s, I was very curious about Yasuko’s conception of Bell, knowing she took her inspiration from one of the most quintessential, traditional pieces of the Kabuki theatre.

In the spirit of DDF, I was hoping to learn more about Japanese dance traditions, and their modern variants. However, after seeing Fanfare being performed by Jodi Melnick, I found Bell a little bit more challenging to access. This may just be due to linguistic or cultural barriers.

Yasuko performed her work to a traditional Japanese song, immersed in black (black wooden floors and black backdrop). The typical screechy flute sounds, a known feature of Japanese tunes, accompanied Yasuko’s entrance onto the stage in dim light and her entire performance. I regret not understanding Japanese as the male singer was chanting his tale in Japanese and knowing the language may have improved the experience. Unfortunately, the English lyrics in the programme we were handed out before the performance were no aid in the darkness.

When Yasuko appeared on stage, the light illuminated her figure, and would have had any purist responding with shock on setting their eyes on the dancer’s bizarre mix of attire, reminiscent both of courtly traditions and modern (Adidas) sports and street wear at once.

Her white hoodie top has flared sleeves suggestive of Kimonos, and her red trousers appear Kimono-shaped from the front, but have Adidas stripes along the sides. Wearing a (tacky, might I add) golden crown on her beautiful long mane (arranged in a traditional hairdo), holding a silver fan in her hands, Yasuko sets off to engage in processional movement, dancing in circles with tiny little stomps of the feet.

When she finally rids herself of the golden hat and fan, I manage to concentrate better, to properly observe her stomping, clapping, walking and dancing around an imaginary object on the floor. I get into the flow of her movement, and at last feel the dance. I am relieved – that is, until she picks up a scarf from the floor at the back of the stage which she then puts in her mouth, before whirling around in circles, scarf in mouth.

I am, if nothing else – intrigued, just what is going on? As the music picks up pace, Yasuko keeps spinning around her own axis, scarf between teeth. I move from perplexed to startled and confused as there is a sudden interruption. She walks to her bundle of props at the back of the stage and whacks off her beautiful black locks, the fake traditional hair, as it were, finally comes undone. I am at once outraged over the loss of the gorgeous hair and completely lost. I find myself squinting at the English lyrics in my hand, but in the darkness they are almost as indecipherable as the Japanese.

Moments after, she puts on a curly brown wig, pulls out tambourine shakers and comes to the front of the stage again to accompany the song and its ever more frenetic sound of screechy flutes. There she remains – dancing, turning, playing until the music hits a climax and the piece finishes abruptly with a fierce look on Yasuko’s part which pierces the audience.

Later, I finally manage to start putting the pieces together. From my initial sense of confusion, I divert from the original storyline. The traditional Bell dance is a tale of unrequited love and a woman scorned. It is meant to illustrate the transformation of a woman from being a young girl to a mature beauty. Bearing Yasuko’s costuming in mind, this idea seems highly unlikely at the core of her story. By contrast, the seemingly wacky choice of costume carries a meaning, the most evident one fathomable being a portrayal of the tension between tradition and modern life. Replacing the formal black wig with a wild, unruly curly one seems to symbolise exactly that, a radical breaking away from traditions and the costume in general, points to the tensions that stem from reminiscent customs and their coexistence with modernity.

However, this particular piece raises the question of accessibility. As a dancer I lost focus throughout the piece, intermittently drifting off – before being alerted back by a sudden change of prop and then being left to ponder its meaning. This automatically makes me wonder how accessible the piece is to the lay man without prior knowledge of its intent or great appreciation for dance that is “out there”, and which does not instantly deliver a clear message.

But while Bell did not immediately resonate with me, it grew on me. Because the essential message that Yasuko intended to transmit becomes clear when you reflect on it carefully, making it an interesting experience nonetheless.

Off I go to do some additional research on traditional Kabuki drama-dance!

Yasuko Yokoshi is originally from Hiroshima/ Japan but now lives and works in New York. Having received two Bessie (New York Dance and Performance) Awards, she has trained with her master teacher Masumi Seyama in Tokyo. With an originally experimental modern dance background, she tries to reconcile it with traditional Japanese dance which she learned from Seyama who choreographed Bell for her.

1. Kabuki is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing (歌), dance (舞), and skill (伎). Kabuki is therefore sometimes translated as “the art of singing and dancing.” The kanji of ‘skill’ generally refers to a performer in kabuki theatre. Since the word kabuki is believed to derive from the verb kabuku, meaning “to lean” or “to be out of the ordinary”, kabuki can be interpreted as “avant-garde” or “bizarre” theatre.

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