都をどり - Miyako Odori!

[[9/28/2010 - I noticed I never finished this post D: I ended it lamely and didn't add any pictures that I took myself... I don't want to alter my original thoughts any! ]]

I've been slow again at posting! My apologies! I guess first I'll tackle the Miyako Odori, "Dances of the Old Capital." Just this last Tuesday, Kaylie and I ventured out to the Gion district in Kyoto to see the Maiko and Geiko of the district perform in the annual spring dances there. After getting lost about three times, we made it safely to Kaburenjo theatre, the exclusive theatre for these performances. For those who have read "Memoirs of a Geisha," the famed Ichiriki Teahouse was located just down the street from the theatre!

We arrived about a half hour early because we paid a bit extra for reserved special tickets that entitle you to take part in a tea ceremony, and also have a first floor seat. You also get to keep a cute little plate that your mochi gets served on at the tea ceremony. I must say -- after having to drink down matcha, the best thing to compliment it truly is mochi!

We tried to take pictures of the Maiko doing the tea ceremony, but all of our attempts were in vain. It was so busy and there were so many people giong every which way that it was impossible to take nice pictures. I pretty much gave up at that point with the photo taking adventures.

After that, we followed the masses into the theatre area. Unforunately for me, I didn't realize that we had passed up all of our options for souvenirs, so I neglected to buy anything substantial, but once inside I bought a nice color program that I think will do nicely as a momento!

The theatre itself was very beautiful! The curtain had this lovely scene on it, full of so many colors. We anxiously awaited the beginning of the performance, flipping through the program and taking in the beautiful costuming presented within it.

The basic concept of the dances is to depict life in Kyoto during the Edo period. There were several scenes, each a separate story of its own, yet connected by that general theme of Edo period Kyoto. To my surprise, I discovered that the dances and songs are newly created each year! For some reason, I always had the impression that the dances were a tradition passed down from year to year, the same stories, the same steps -- it just goes to show that the beautiful tradition of the flower and willow world is still flourishing!

And then, it began! Since I was unable to take pictures during the performance, I found some pictures online that I will share so you get the feel of it. These aren't pictures from this year, so the sets and performers are different.

The curtains on the sides lifted and the musicians for the performance began. All of the music was live, performed on all traditional instruments.

All of these performers are Maiko, apprentice Geiko. They are young, rather inexperienced performers relative to their older counterparts. They wear more ornate kimono and kanzashi (hair decorations). They are also seen playing simpler instruments at the Miyako Odori.

All of the performers shown here are Geiko (the word for Geisha in the Kyoto dialect), known for the mastery of the arts. They play the more complex instruments and do all of the singing. The story of the dance is told through the song, so it's a very important job.

After a cry of "Odori wa YO-I-YASA~" (Let's begin the dances!), the colorful Maiko slowly made their way on stage, gracefully, not wasting a single movement. The kimono pictured above are used every year and are one of the most well known symbols of the dances. These performers are used to depict the changing seasons throughout the dances, the first dance being Summer.

It was everything I could have hoped for -- except I hoped it could have been even longer! I bought a beautiful program that has photos of all the scenes and dancers. I'm really glad I got to experience this!