With their flamboyant kimonos, charming facial expressions and movements Kengeki Harukomaza – a 15-member theatrical troupe from Japan staged a truly captivating show of Japanese culture earning rousing applauses and standing ovation from hundreds of people who attended their performance at the Katara Drama Theatre. They performed on Monday and Tuesday.
Presenting 12 scenes from Japanese popular theatre, the group which exuded expertise in their craft effectively brought stories from the Land of the Rising Sun to the people of Qatar through dance – a language everyone understands.
The stellar performances of the group headed by charismatic performer Ryu Tsugawa was testament on how dance has been deeply ingrained in Japan’s history as a nation with great significance to their society’s cultural makeup.
It was a sight to behold as the performers garbed in kimonos representing various periods came out of Ukiyo-e during the first scene. Ukiyo-e is a form of visual art and a genre of Japanese woodblock prints or paintings between 17th to 20th centuries.
Literally ukiyo means ‘floating world’ which refers to a temporary world of fleeting beauty and entertainment and the expert performers showcased this how they carried themselves wearing the costumes as they danced magically to the music.
The audience could almost smell the flowers and see verdant surroundings as the troupe danced ‘Flower Festival’ representing a very important celebration which is annually observed by the Japanese people despite their busy schedules. This was complemented by another item titled ‘Sakura Sakura’ referring to the breathtakingly awe-inspiring cherry blossom that blooms copiously all over the country.
Equally charming was ‘Renjisi’ the dance of the white lion (parent) and red lion (baby) based on the tale that says that the lion, the king of beasts, only raises babies that climb up the cliff after having been thrown into the deep valley.
Gallant men in their crested black kimonos, said to be one of the most formal of Japanese dresses, displayed their dancing prowess in ‘Sword Dance’ and ‘Sword Fight’ which was a display of the long-held Japanese martial arts tradition. Not only they were excellent dancers and actors but also exceptional singers having proved their strong vocal prowess in a medley of Japanese folk songs which also included ‘Sohran’ dedicated to fishermen.
The finale was a fitting conclusion to the one-hour show as beautiful ladies of the 17th and 19th century Japan paraded in their kimonos.
The show has also served as an ostentatious display of various kimonos, the Japanese traditional garment which is a vital element of Japanese theatre. It is said it normally takes more than an hour to wear a kimono, and Japanese Ambassador Kenjiro Monji himself said it took him one and a half hour to wear kimono for the event but the troupe impressed the audience with their quick change as every scene required a different kimono.
The actors and actresses also marked a distinctive impression as they showed off their impressive talent in the way they quickly adopted to their various roles with men dressing up as women and vice versa.
As an integral part of the series of activities for the year-long Qatar Japan 2012 celebrating 40 years of friendship between the two countries, Ambassador Monji said the show was a gesture of gratitude for the assistance Qatar extended to Japan during the recent calamities.
“Through this form of popular Japanese theatre, we want to express gratitude to Qatar for supporting Japan after the earthquake and tsunami. This is a very interesting collaboration among famous theatre actors and revue actresses in such a big scale rarely seen even in Japan,” said the Japanese Ambassador.
“Since the beginning of the year we have been doing quite a lot of events in collaboration with Qatar and we are very pleased that through these events the understanding of Japanese culture of Qataris and people in Qatar in general are much more reinforced,” he added.
Among the other events held in connection with the celebrations were ‘Ego’ exhibition featuring renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, ‘Wadaiko’ Japanese dance performance, photo expo on Japan’s earthquake recovery, Japan Music project and a series of Japanese film showcase by Doha Film Institute. In parallel to events in Qatar, other activities are also being held in Japan such as the ‘Pearls Jewels from the Sea’ expo, Qatar Week: Ferjaan in Tokyo’ and Pop-Up Mathaf.
Held under the patronage of H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari, Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, “Japanese Dance and Music –Omnibus from Popular Theatre Scenes” was organised by the Japanese Embassy in cooperation with the Human and Cultural Exchange General Incorporated Association with the support of Katara.
The show which was especially made for the performance in Qatar also demonstrates that Japan is well on its way to recovery with full energy.The Peninsula
