Katanatori

...There is a record of the emperor seeing this in 837 (4th year of the Jowa Era) (Shoku Nihon Koki), and in 861 (3rd year of the Jōgan Era) it was performed as a sangaku piece at a sumo festival (Sandai Jitsuroku). From the end of the Heian period it was also performed by the general public as a dengaku art, and the Katanatori piece in the Ryōjin Hishō is thought to be this art. Around the Muromachi period it became one of the arts of the hōka masters, and in the Edo period it was performed in acrobatic shows and daikagura, and can still be seen in vaudeville theatres today.

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "katanatori" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…837年(承和4)，天皇がこれをみた記録があり(《続日本後紀》)，861年(貞観3)には相撲節会の散楽にこれを演じた記録がある(《三代実録》)。平安末期から民間でも田楽の芸として演じられ，《梁塵秘抄》の〈かたなとり〉というのもこの芸と考えられる。室町時代ごろになると放下（ほうか）師の芸の一つになり，江戸時代になると曲芸の見世物や太神楽（だいかぐら）で行われ，今日でも寄席で見ることができる。…

※「かたなとり」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報