Yayoi Hirano’s talk at the Nikkei National Museum will discuss her research and experience travelling through Japan to study the Japanese performing arts that came before Kabuki. 

Hirano was born and raised in Japan and studied the mime dance form at a theatre university. After graduating, Hirano continued her studies outside of Japan. Her experiences of other cultures spurred her to study traditional Japanese performing arts.

“I felt I had to get more in touch with Japanese arts and try it more,” says Hirano.

Yayoi Hirano wearing a traditional Gagaku dance costume. | Photo by Junko Ikukawa

A glimpse into arts of the past

Hirano specializes in the mime dance form but also practices Kabuki, Noh, Kagura and Kyogen dance styles as well. Last year, she was awarded a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. With this grant, she travelled through Japan for two months to research performing art styles that came before the Kabuki style circa 800–1800.

“Dance was used to worship the gods. Everything has a god, air has a god, the mountain has a god [etc.], and that was how many dance forms started,” says Hirano.

During her trip, she met with different dance companies and took part in workshops and classes to observe various productions. Some of the performing art styles that she was able to study include Gagaku (ancient imperial court dance), Kagura (Shinto theatrical dance) and Bunraku (puppet performance where three people manipulate one puppet). Hirano feels that if she were still living in Japan, she may not have received the opportunity and resources to see and research these art forms.

Hirano says that early Japanese governments imposed many restrictions on the performing arts such as who could perform them and how to perform them.

“No females could do Kabuki even though a female started it,” says Hirano. “Then [the government] also did not let young males perform either so it became adult male Kabuki only.”

However, in more rural areas, the government prohibitions were not adhered to due to a lack of enforcement so the traditional dance forms from a few hundred years ago are still being practiced today.

As Hirano travelled through Japan, she realized that even within the country, these art forms were slowly declining in practice due to the diminishing Japanese population and a lack of interest from the younger generations. With this in mind, Hirano recounted a tale of looking for a Noh theatre on Sado Island, which was home to over 100 Noh theatres in the past.

“I was shocked nobody cared or knew where the theatre was,” she says.

She discovered that even locals in the area were indifferent to the location and existence of the Noh theatre. As a result of this experience, she feels that the government should be investing more in preserving Japanese heritage.

Where East meets West

Yayoi Hirano, mime artist and Japanese dancer specializing in traditional dance forms. | Photo by Noiko Tidball

Hirano started her own theatre company called the Yayoi Theatre Movement Society in 1990 to pursue her love of theatre. As the choreographer and artistic director, Hirano and her company have toured and performed internationally. Performances are Japanese themed with a mix of Japanese and Western dance techniques.

“Western theatre starts from the heart and is more expressive,” says Hirano when defining the differences between Western and Japanese theatre. “Japanese theatre has very strict and specific movements.”

In 2011, Hirano started the Vancouver Ondo group so that they could join the Canada Day Parade and showcase a traditional Japanese festival dance. Hirano reached out to a Japanese composer friend to create the music for the dance. Now in its fourth year, the Vancouver Ondo has grown to over 100 dancers.

“There are only four movements and anyone can dance,” says Hirano who choreographed the dance.

To learn more about Japanese performing arts before Kabuki, Hirano will be giving a talk on her unique research trip at the Nikkei National Museum in Burnaby on Feb. 21 at 2 p.m.

Please visit www.centre.nikkeiplace.org/before-kabuki/ for more information.