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Salon Series 2018/19: Magic Animals

This year's Salon Series is dedicated to two topics we LOVE - animals and yôkai (magical beings). Kabuki dance is full of magical animals who assume human form to be with someone they love, obtain something they want, or simply to have a little fun in the human world. We will be screening full videos of live performances from the Shôchiku's Kabuki Meisakusen Series, which feature some of the greatest kabuki performers of the 20th and 21st centuries. The recordings have English language commentary, and we will also discuss important story and performance elements. Join artistic director Colleen Lanki, TomoeArts members, and other fans of kabuki & odori for an evening of lions, herons and foxes...

All salons will be held at UBC's I.K Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall - in the Dodson Room. The nearest parking to the Centre are the Rose Garden and North Parkades. Parking at UBC is $7 after 5pm. UBC Parking map. Presented by TomoeArts & UBC Library.

Entrance is free.



Dancing Lions and Cranes
Wednesday October 10, 2018 - 7:00 to 8:30pm
I.K Barber Learning Centre, UBC
Dodson Room


In October we will screen two masterworks of kabuki dance plays. The first will be Hanabusa Shujaku Jishi (Shujaku Lion Dance performed by the late onnagata master Nakamura Jakuemon IV. In this dance a courtesan is possessed by the spirit of a lion and she dances in a frenzy to free herself. In the same evening we will show the favourite Sagimusume (The Heron Maiden) about the loves and losses of heron spirit as she dies, performed by the gorgeous Bando Tamasburô.

Image: LEFT: Sakata Tôjūrô in Hanabusa Shujaku Jishi. RIGHT: Bando Tamasaburo in Sagimusume.







Flying Foxes
March 20, 2019 - 7:00 to 8:30pm
I.K Barber Learning Centre, UBC
Dodson Room

First performed as a bunraku puppet play in 1747, Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura (Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees) has become one of the most beloved kabuki plays, and part of the Ennosuke Jūhachiban - eighteen top plays of the Ennosuke acting lineage. In this salon we will view sections of the story that focus on a magical fox, who disguises himself as Yoshitsune's retainer Tadanobu in order to obtain a hand-drum made from the skins of his parents. Tadanobu travels with Yoshitsune's mistress Shizuka, protecting both her and the precious drum.

Image: Ichikawa Ennosuke III as Tadanobu in Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura.







We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Province of British Columbia