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November 2017: maiko Katsusen of Gion Kobu by kuumill on Instagram

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What’s In a Dance? Part 3

This one is has an interesting backstory and made it something that I wanted to look into a bit more before doing. However, this dance is incredibly popular in one of the districts (and you’ll see why soon).

Rokudan Kuzushi (六段くづし) - Six Strings Arrangement

Image courtesy of Jamestomobsuzuki on Instagram. This song actually originated as a composition for a six stringed koto, yet somewhere along the line it became a hauta (端唄), which is a type of love song. From there choreography was added and we now have the popular song and dance combination that we know today.

Lyrics

Hana ga chōchō ka, chōchō ga hana ka, 花が蝶々か,蝶々が花か, Flowers are like butterflies, butterflies are like flowers, Kite wa chirachira mayowaseru. 来てはちらちら迷わせる。 They come to me so that I will get lost. Hana wa iroiro goshiki ni sakedo, 花は色々五色に咲けど, Flowers bloom in various colors, Nushi ni mikaeru hana wa nai. 主に見返る花は無い。 But there are no flowers that return your gaze. Hana wo ippon wasurete kita ga, 花を一本忘れて来たが, Having forgotten one flower, Ato de sakuya ra sakanu yara. あとで咲くやら咲かぬやら。 Will it bloom later or will it not?

The Breakdown

This song is one of the shortest in the karyukai, but it’s full of so much cryptic meaning that you can’t help but be moved by its poetic nature. The flowers that the song speaks of refer to the maiko and geiko themselves, with the entire song revolving around the entertainment of the karyukai. In the first line we’re told that butterflies and flowers are the same thing; that is, maiko and geiko are both colorful and flirtatious at the same time. In the second, we’re told of their skills that allow you to forget the outside world or that anything exists but them. In the third, the blooming of various colors refers to the different stages that maiko and geiko show, whether that’s very junior or very senior. In the fourth is where we see the actual story develop. “[N]o flowers to return your gaze” means that outside of an ozashiki you are just a normal person, and that a maiko or geiko has no reason to “fly” to you unless you provide them with one. In the fifth, the author explains why maiko or geiko no longer “fly” to them as they had forgotten or scorned a maiko or geiko in the past, which is likely one of the reasons why they do not see any maiko or geiko flocking to them now. In the sixth and final line the author wonders if another relationship with a certain maiko or geiko will be able to “bloom” again in the future, or if they will remain forever scorned. However, it appears as though each kagai has its own lyrics for this song. As I can only find a record of the ones matching that performed in Gion Kobu, I am unable to add the others at this time.

This dance can be done either alone or in pairs, and by both maiko and geiko of any rank.

Each Kagai’s Version

Gion Kobu (祇園甲部) Version - Inoue School (井上流) Although a short song, it has more dynamic movements than longer ones, as you can see that there’s far more turns and twists. Unlike other districts, the Inoue style involves a mai tenugui! This is by far the most popular style as it’s constantly performed at Gion Corner on a daily basis, and thus the one that most tourists and outsiders see. What I really like is how the dancers switch between movements that mirror each other to ones that are identical. Also, that tenugui flip at the end! This version is danced by Mameyuri (豆ゆり) of Shibata (柴田) and Mametomi (豆十三) of Arai (新井). Pontocho (先斗町) Version- Onoe School (尾上流) This is going to be a slight let down, but I can’t actually find a video of a maiko or geiko from Pontocho performing this dance. Do they still dance it? Of course, but clearly it is not very popular. Sorry about that ^^; Kamishichiken (上七軒) Version - Hanayagi School (花柳流) A different version to showcase how a natori geiko dances, the Hanayagi school uses a mai ōgi throughout the dance and it is far more dynamic than its Gion Kouta or Kyō No Shiki cousins. This version was performed by Umeka (梅嘉). Miyagawa Cho (宮川町) Version - Wakayagi School (若柳流) Another example using a geiko, this version is really neat as the mai ōgi is the main prop, but it’s rarely open for the first half; instead, it’s used to lead the eye of the viewer until you get to the parts about the gaze and past relationships. This version is danced by Toshimana (とし真菜) of Komaya (駒屋). Gion Higashi (祇園東) Version - Fujima School (藤間流) To be different this version is performed by a whole host of maiko (6!). Unlike other dance styles, the dancers all follow the same movements, except between verses where they pose in a manner similar to that of the “darari no obi” part of the Gion Kouta. To be different, this version uses mai ōgi near the end and not throughout. This version is danced by Tomitsuyu (富津愈) of Tomikiku (富菊), Fukuharu (富久春) of Okatome (岡とめ), Ryōka (涼香) of Sakaemasa (栄政), Kanoyumi (叶祐美) of Kanoya (叶家), Tomitae (富多愛) of Tomikiku (富菊), and Kanoemi (叶笑) of Kanoya (叶家). __________________________________________________________________ The lyrics provided were translated by myself and gathered from multiple sources; I began with a set that a friend had listed, compared it to two other sets (this was one of them), and figured out which made the most sense when written out as some versions just wrote the hiragana versions of a few kanji and it made the meanings a bit more ambiguous to people who are not fluent in Japanese. In the original version some older forms of common kanji were used so I updated them as this may also confuse people.