The upcoming staging of NHK Enterprises' fifth "Gei no Shinzui" ("The Essence of Art") series at the National Theatre in Tokyo promises a rare and rather sublime Kyoto treat for the capital's lovers of traditional Japanese performing arts.
Titled "Kyo no Miyabi" ("The Elegance of Kyoto"), the Aug. 23 production — which is in collaboration with Tokyo Metropolitan Government's "WA" project — will feature the sounds of fue (Japanese bamboo flutes) and a form of elegant and emotive mai dancing known as kyo-mai, since it evolved in Kyoto from a fusion of late-18th-century noh dance styles and dances performed for the Imperial household.
Playing fue will be Tosha Meisho (real name: Nakagawa Isao, 70), one of the nation's foremost virtuosos, while Inoue Yachiyo (real name: Kanze Michiko, 55), the head of the Inoue school of kyo-mai since 2000, will bring to the performance her beautifully controlled dance gestures and rotating movements.
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