How to japanese fan dance
The History of the Japanese Fan Dance
By: Emma Murray Updated September 15, 2017
fan image by windzepher from Fotolia.com
By: Emma Murray Updated September 15, 2017
The traditional Japanese fan dance is usually performed by a young woman, either singly or in a group of dancers. It involves using a hand-held fan as a prop. The dancers often wear brightly colored Japanese kimonos, and have elaborately arranged hair and bold make-up. Fan dancing involves slow, deliberate movements, figures and poses, which sometimes tell a story.
Features
A traditional Japanese fan can be made from paper, feathers or thin material mounted on slats. Today, the fans used in fan dancing are usually made from paper, and are elaborately painted and folded. The fans must be made using a paper pivot attachment, a mechanism that allows the dancer to fold and open the fan with a single flick of the wrist, so that the fan may be easily folded and twirled in the movements of the dance. Fan dances are usually accompanied by traditional Japanese music.
Origins
The earliest recorded fan dances in Japan took place in 6th century AD, during the reign of Emperor Jimmu. Fan dancing was a dance of high social status, and only performed at court, among aristocrats. The dance would be accompanied by traditional Japanese music, and was often used to portray a story, as many of the gestures are symbolic. It was popular at court for many centuries and formed an integral part of celebrations, including coronations and marriage ceremonies.
Time Frame
The tradition of fan dancing continued throughout the imperial lineage. Traditional fan dancing can still be seen in Japan today, although it is no longer the dance of aristocrats. It is performed with hand-painted fans, usually made from paper, to the accompaniment of live music, often involving singing and the playing of a shamisen (a three-stringed instrument). Sometimes fan dancing is performed for western audiences with faster and showier choreography, accompanied by recorded music, but this is not traditional fan dancing.
Fan dancing was originally an aristocratic art form, and the fans themselves could be used as indicators of social status. The use of hinoku (Japanese cypress) in the decoration of fans was regulated according to the social standing of the fan's owner. Japanese craftsmen even made fans from ivory, mother-of-pearl and sandalwood for those of high rank. Today, Japanese fans no longer represent social significance, but they are symbolic of friendship or loyalty, and can be exchanged as signs of good will.
Popular Culture
Fan dancing forms a key part of representations of Japan in Western popular culture. In "The Mikado," a comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, a westernized version of fan dancing is performed both by the ladies of the chorus and by the heroine. "The Mikado" was first performed in London in 1885, and proved hugely popular. The 1999 Mike Leigh film, "Topsy Turvy," which tells the fictional story of the making of "The Mikado," focuses more than one scene on the importance of the fan dance in displaying the habits of aristocratic Japanese women.
"Memoirs of a Geisha," a novel by Arthur Golden (published in 1997), devotes many pages to fan dancing and the significance of mastering the art of fan dancing when becoming, as a geisha must be, a truly accomplished woman.
References
- Streetswing: Fan Dance
- Love to Know: How to Learn Traditional Japanese Fan Dancing
Writer Bio
Emma Murray has worked as a writer for the past four years, and is published in student, local, and national publications, including "The Isis Magazine," "The Evening Chronicle" and "The Sunday Times" Culture Section. She is a first class graduate in English language and literature from the University of Oxford.
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Japanese Dance, Kimono, and Folded Memories: The Dancing Fan
The dancer enters the stage slowly, her feet sliding across the polished wood of the stage. With silent, measured movements she opens her paper fan, one fold at a time, turns her back and waits for the strum of the shamisen to fill the theater.
Holding her fan above her head with one hand, her other hand tucked into the armhole opening of her kimono, she slowly tilts her left shoulder down towards the stage and with nearly imperceptible movements turns her head to gaze behind her. The fan she holds aloft is a moon, a misty moon, the moon of a spring night. The dancer enacts the moment the woman, alone under the pale light of the spring moon, turns to catch her shadow. And now the dancer pulls her fan down as she twists to face the audience. The fan has become a mirror. The dancer mimes the woman gently touching her hair. The face in the mirror has aged.
In Nihon buyō, or traditional Japanese dance, the fan is the most important accoutrement. It performs the roles of various objects, from the moon, to a mirror, to a sake cup. In some dances it is the sail of a boat, in others a fluttering cherry blossom. The fan creates the mood of the dance, the spirit, the elegance, and carries the emotion of the dancer.
Throughout the dance the dancer may open the fan half way, all the way, or keep it closed. When a dancer first begins her lessons, her instructor, or sensei, provides her with a fan. My first fan was emblazoned with silver and gold cherry blossom petals on a bright red background. The dancing fan is made of thick paper attached to ten thin sticks, usually bamboo, that are connected at the base with a pin or pivot. The fan is designed to open and close. My sensei taught me how to do so properly. “The outside sticks are known as our parents. Hold one with the thumb and finger of your left hand while you push the other with your right.” It took me awhile before I got the hang of it.
I still have my first fan. The paper has grown soft in places, and the color has worn here and there. The folds that once were stiff are now pliable and easily fall open. This fan is one of my prized possessions. Like many things that have known the touch of human hands over the ages, the fan now embodies a tactile sense of memory.
It carries with it the dance steps I have long forgotten.
The mai ōgi or dancing fan is treated with respect. It is only used for dancing and never for fanning—a fact I learned the hard way. (I learned a lot of facts the hard way in Japan. And by that I mean, I made the mistake of doing it wrong and was swiftly corrected.) When she is not dancing, a dancer carries her fan in the space between her obi and her kimono. Often she keeps the fan tucked inside a narrow carrying case made of silk. Before each lesson, the pupil kneels on the floor before the sensei and places the fan (folded) parallel to her knees—between herself and her sensei—and she bows.
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Section topics: Japanese antiques and art, collectibles and hoardings, Japanese fans, Japanese style, japanese art, traditional japanese culture, antique gift, buy gift online, japanese hand fan as a gift, japanese antique collections. Japanese Antiques and Art | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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