Jiutamai: classical Japanese dance

In its present form, the classical Japanese dance jiutamai entered the popular awareness of the Japanese in the early 19th century. It was then that it escaped closely guarded palaces where it had been practiced by aristocratic ladies of noble birth and was adopted first by bourgeois women and then by geishas. The dance inspired a musical genre called jiuta, which was originally played on the shamisen. Jiutamai is one of very few traditional Japanese arts developed and practiced by women. It is a very subtle art that makes extensive use of the pause. Although nowadays the dance is also performed onstage, it was originally shown in small spaces. For this reason, it involves elegant, subtle movements of the hands and arms, long and intense gazes, feeling and creating the space with your body. The movements and gazes inspire the viewers' imagination as it is left for them to interpret the emotions conveyed. This tender relationship between the dancer is the world of jiutamai.

Introduction: Hana Umeda, dancer and performer, student of Hanasaki Tokijyo, PhD student at the Institute of Polish Culture, University of Warsaw 

After the performance, please join us for a panel discussion led by Dr Agata Chałupnik, dance and theatre researcher of the Institute of Polish Culture, University of Warsaw, founder of Latająca Akademia Języków Tańca. 

DANCE: Hanasaki Tokijyo, Hana Umeda, Ewa Ossowska, Malwina Poręba, Ida Zasacka

SHAKUHACHI: Ishikawa Toshimitsu

SHAMISEN: Kikuō Yūji

KOTO: Hiyoshi Shōgo

MAKEUP: Kanda Mutsutoshi

WIGS: Yuri Hatanaka, Toshikazu Kamoji

COSTUMES: Sanagashi Shōichi 

ORGANISED BY:

▪ The Theatre Museum, Teatr Wielki
▪ The Manggha Museum of Japanse Art and Technology

SPONSORS

▪ Agency of Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan
▪ The Tokyo Club 

HONORARY PATRONS:

▪ Japanese Embassy in Poland
▪ Polish Embassy in Japan
▪ Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland 
▪ Honorary Consul of Japan in Kraków

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