Heron girl

Kabuki dance. Nagauta. Lyricist unknown. Music by Kineya Chujiro, choreography by Nishikawa Senzo II. First performed by Segawa Kikunojo II at Ichimuraza in Edo in April 1762 (12th year of the Horeki era). A passage from the five-form dance "Willow Dolls and Birds Singing". It depicts the delusion of a young girl's mind entrusted to a spirit of a white heron standing in the snow. She is taken out of her wedding costume of a pure white wedding kimono and cotton hat and becomes a town girl in a Yuzen costume, and goes through Kudoki, hand dance, umbrella dance, etc., and finally turns into a costume of feathers or flames, and shows her suffering the torments of hell. While the entire piece is performed in a gentle, three-tone melody, it is a masterpiece rich in variety, ranging from mysterious, elegant, and terrifying, and has become a representative work of female dance.

[Toshiaki Matsui]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

歌舞伎(かぶき)舞踊。長唄(ながうた)。作詞者不詳。杵屋(きねや)忠次郎作曲、2世西川扇蔵振付け。1762年（宝暦12）4月、江戸・市村座で2世瀬川菊之丞(きくのじょう)が初演。五変化舞踊『柳雛諸鳥囀(やなぎにひなしょちょうのさえずり)』の一節。雪のなかにたたずむ白鷺の精に託して娘心の妄執を描いたもので、白無垢(しろむく)・綿帽子の嫁入り衣装から引き抜いて友禅衣装の町娘になり、クドキ、手踊、傘踊などを経て、最後は羽または火焔(かえん)の衣装にぶっ返り、地獄の呵責(かしゃく)に苦しむ姿をみせる。全曲を三下がりのしっとりした調子で通しながら、幽艶(ゆうえん)・華麗・凄愴(せいそう)と変化に富んだ名作で、女方(おんながた)舞踊の代表作になっている。

［松井俊諭］

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