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Matsu Gallery
Japanese
Woodblock Prints
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Fuji Musume (The Wisteria Maiden)
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'Seki Sanjuro
II as Fuji Musume' by Utagawa Kunisada (1826)
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Fuji Musume (now performed
independently) was first performed in 1826 as one of a set of five
dances. The figure of the wisteria maiden first came from the town of
Otsu on the shores of Lake Biwa, where folk art pictures painted by
hand called Otsu-e were sold as souvenirs. The wisteria maiden was the
most
famous of them. The other four dances in the original set also came
from Otsu-e.
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So what is the dance about? Well, it
portrays the spirit of the wisteria as a fashionable young girl,
extravagantly dressed in a long sleeved kimono, called Nagasode, and
obi (or sash) with a
distinctive wisteria pattern. She also carries a wisteria branch with
which she poses as the dance begins.
The 'nagauta' ('long song') lyrics that accompany the dance are complex
and create a
series of suggestive images. They make sensual references to the
closeness of the wisteria and its supporting pine tree, entwined stems
compared to two lovers sleeping together.
The dance moves through
distinct sections, with the dancer miming the joy of a girl in love,
then the heartbreak of jealousy and betrayal. |
'Onoe Baiko
VII as Fuji Musume' by Ota Gako (1949)
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 'Actor as
Fuji Musume' by Tadamasa Ueno (1950)
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After a costume change, the dancer
re-emerges to dances two lovers quarelling, then making up over a cup
of sake. The choreography in this section includes a famous sequence,
with the same movements danced twice, first time sober, the second
slightly tipsily. The piece moves through a rhythmical section of
abstract movement as it reaches its climax.
The original early 19th century choreography for
the dance was lost over the years due to the dance falling out of
fashion in the later 19th century. The choreography used today was
created in
1937 for the actor Kikugoro Onoe VI. |
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