Original subtitles

THE LION DANCE (Kagamijishi)

Kikugoro Onoe VI

Filmed in 1935 Directed by Yasujiro Ozu

As you all know, Kabuki actor Kikugoro Onoe VI

is the most talented of the last few years.

He inherited his quick-wittedness from his father Kikugoro V

while showing a brilliant inspiration

worthy of the children of Edo.

He was born in a great kabuki family ruled by respect and tradition.

Thus he was inevitably spoiled.

But he also had a mischievous side, being very quick-witted,

that allowed him to bear his father's authority.

The father entrusted his son's education to Danjuro Ichikawa IX.

Kikugoro VI became the heir

of both the name and the art of Kikugoro V.

He acquired strong basis in kabuki dance

with master Danjuro IX during his youth.

But he was only 19 years old

when is master died.

His full potential hadn't revealed itself yet.

It was his innate talent and efforts

that allowed him to develop his technique.

When he's dancing, he doesn't neglect

any word or move.

He's always looking for perfection.

That's where the strength of his dance lied

and it made it sublime.

Sometimes he had

bright and happy glorious feats.

Among his famous dances, we can mention first his feminine roles in Dojoji,

Fujimusume and Kamuro.

His corpulence was a great help to

play young ingenuous girls with generous curves.

When he played for the first time the role of Kamuro,

who is 12-13 years old girl,

the scenery had to be extended.

All his moves and manners had

a look of a naive and adorable young girl.

And in Yasuna's role,

he expressed a noble erotism

losing its reason in the spring melancholy.

He played a funny and innocent boy with the role of Kisen.

For Sanbaso's role,

requiring a naive and gay dance,

his performance was never lacking nobility and rigour.

For No theatre roles,

like Tomomori and Tuchigumo that he was interpreting with brilliance,

he wasn't just adapting them to kabuki.

He succesfully showed humanity

and kabuki's special , different from No.

The Kagamijishi (Lion Dance ) is known as the most difficult to perform.

On top of the complexity of the moves and of the expression of the feelings,

this dance requires a lot of stamina.

Nobody else would have managed to preform this dance so perfectly.

All the lion dances come from No theatre's shakku.

Among the oldest ones, there's the Makurajishi.

This dance includes a courtesan. But Danjuro IX moved the scenery

to a big manor the evening of a new year ceremony.

Yayoi, a peasant, is boiling water to make some tea.

An old lady is coming to get her.

Shyly, the peasant shows her her favorite dance.

Then, near the end of the dance,

when she's touching the lion's head,

the lion's spirit seizes her.

She vanishes then reappears as a lion,

She's dancing with a butterfly.

The script was written by a revolutionary of this time,

Ouchi Fukuchi, in 1893.

Kikugoro VI played it for the first time in 1914. He was barely 30 years old.

This movie was made in 1935

when he was 51 years old,

with the help of the Kokusai Bunka Shinko-kai

to promote the art of Japanese dance abroad.

That's why it's missing the first Yayoi dance

of which some parts have been modified.

At some point, it's not the usual choreography.

But the heart and the highlight of the show weren't changed.

Among the key scenes, we can name

the description opening with "In this time, the peonies...",

in which he's contemplating the falling petals.

It's the famous scene of the first act,

one of the hardest to perform.

We can admire his performance

when he's attracted by the lion's spirit despite his fear,

then the scene where, once he's become a lion,

he's shaking his long and heavy mane with constancy and vigor

to incarnate an intrepid lion.

Those performances require moral strength and technique.

The lion dance must express strength and happiness.

And the curtain must fall on a calm lion.

By watching this Kagamijishi film interpreted by Kikugoro VI,

and listening to the final line, "Under the lion star...",

we can't help thinking that this line

is mentioning both the actor and the lion.

THE END

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