Many thanks to Anna Kase for sending in the following information. Much has been written about Kyoto's maiko, the famous apprentice geisha (properly called geiko in Kyoto) who entertain wealthy guests with traditional music, dance, songs, games and good conversation. In the past it was quite difficult for overseas visitors to gain access to the traditional tea houses … [Read more...]
A Close Encounter with Butoh Dance at the Kyoto Butoh-kan
Today we have a special guest post from Florentyna Leow on the world’s first theatre expressly devoted to regular Butoh performances. Butoh is an avant-garde dance style originating in Japan. First developed by Kazuo Ono and Hijikata Tatsumi in the 1960s, one of the central features of Butoh is its very indefinability - it is difficult to attach a definition or set of … [Read more...]
Happy in Kyoto
Look what I found! And nicely timed with the sakura too - what could be happier than that? There's some neat skipping here. Watch and enjoy! … [Read more...]
Hanezu Odori – Dance performance at Kyoto’s Zuishin-in Temple
From the Japan Times, Girls in pale pink traditional costumes will dance and sing in a “Hanezu Odori” performance at Zuishin-in Temple in Kyoto on March 30. The performance will be held three or four times during the day. The temple is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, and admission will be ¥1,000. The temple is a five-minute walk from Ono Station on the Tozai Line. For … [Read more...]
Sailing Without the Wind: A Performance by Peter Golightly & Bruno the Bad Boy
Billed as a "evening of music, dance and life", this show looks to be amazing and it bears a very important message... Peter Golightly has kindly written to tell us more about it: "I'm a long time Kyoto resident and I've been doing the dance singing theater thing for better than 30 years here. Bruno has been around for about 18 years. He's a performance artist who … [Read more...]
SONORIA by Hanna Preuss December 1st & 2nd @ Atelier Gekken
Thanks to Micah Gampel for the following event information: Please come for live performance art from Europe and special event this Saturday and Sunday December 1st & 2nd. Celebrating the anniversary of 20 years of friendship between Slovenia and Japan. With a short film of a Bunraku collaboration performed last Saturday in Wachi, Kyoto. You will enjoy a performance … [Read more...]
Shakuhachi & Flamenco Live with Yugao – This Weekend!
Our old friend the shakuhachi player, Koichi Yoshida, and his band Yugao have an autumn show at Zac Baran this weekend and the wonderful flamenco dancer Carmen Alvarez is back from Spain to join the performance! You can see some clips of Carmen in action with Yugao from a performance last year here. A little birdy tells me that Koichi is planning to move to France soon... so … [Read more...]
Butoh Workshops & Shiatsu Classes with Bridget Scott
Our friend Bridget Scott says, At last I am starting to teach my own monthly butoh workshop at Ichijoji Shukaijo - an old dojo in Ichijoji. In April I worked with Katsura Kan, who was the teacher who lead me into the butoh world in 1989. I also studied with Min Tanaka, and butoh greats: Kazuo Ohno and Yoshito Ohno. I feel as if I have come full circle after dancing with … [Read more...]
Images from the JunKroom Special Event
My apologies to all for the tardy posting of these images. I was trying to retrieve some footage I took on my i-phone but for technical reasons beyond my ken it appears to be GONE. I do however have a lot of photos and some video clips I took with my regular camera. Sean Roe deserves congratulations for organizing yet another very successful and enjoyable event. A lot of people … [Read more...]
Yugao & Carmen Alvarez
“Flamenco is a gypsy/Andalusian art with its own language, which is spreading throughout the whole world, from Andalusia to Japan, and reaching the depths of all hearts without discrimination.” - Carmen Alvarez Another fantastic show from Yugao at Parker House Roll last night, and it was made all the more special when their special surprise guest, Carmen Alvarez, joined … [Read more...]
The Legend of UrBANGUILD
Let me tell you a story, about a place called UrBANGUILD... It's a kind of fairytale, but that doesn't mean it isn't true. And it all began in another place. A place that I like to call cafe underpants. Once upon a time there was an honest carpenter named Jiro. One day, Jiro was hired by a man of property to design and build a cafe. Jiro was a very fine carpenter and … [Read more...]
