Sunday, February 10, 2013

March 16, 1954 Kabuki

Traditional Kabuki representation of a lion

Diary Entry:  Mar. 16, 1954

"Left house early.  Met Henry W. & Edna Logan & went to Osaka to join Woman's Club at Kabuki.  Took lunch.  Saw five plays.  Lion Dancer was best."

The lion waving its mane
Images from Japanese Theatre in Highlight by Francis Harr, text by Earle Ernst, 1952.

Below is an early film of the Lion Dance:

 

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2 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 10, 2013 at 1:56 PM

    Hi Ann I enjoyed watching the early film of the Lion Dance. Did you know Kabuki was originally performed by women until 1629 then they were banned and young men took over all the roles. Gosh it almost gave me a headache watching the Lion swing his head around :-)

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  2. Ann B. KennedyFebruary 10, 2013 at 2:23 PM

    I did read about the prohibition of women in the Harr book and really hadn't known much about Kabuki prior to reading. The book talks about early 1950's efforts to include women, with variable success. One Kabuki actor stated that the presence of women in a Kabuki play makes it "too real"! Mom didn't care for the appearance of the female characters and makes a remark about it in the next letter. And I can't imagine swinging around that much hair either!

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