The Sunday Oregonian., September 27, 1914, Page 8, Image 76

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THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTEAXD, SEPTEMBER 27, 1914
W'
TOKIO. Sept. 6. (Special Corre
spondence.) The ta.ng-o Arg-en-tina.
hesitation waltz, the Maxlxe
and the one-step have struck the Orierfc
In their mad whirl around the worldl
In Japan the pretty little geisha
dancers are discussing: the new dances
behind their paper shoji. chattering:
like so many sparrows over the influ
ence on their own heretofore exclusive
art. Some of the more advanced ones
(chaperoned by their duennas) have
been to the Tarakuza Theater at Tokio
- and witnessed the demonstrations of
the dances recently given by Thomas
Allen Rector, whose meteoric career
shot him from New Tork to Los An
geles, and thence to Tokohama, whence
he will soon be leaving for Manila on
his round-the-world tango tour.
Some of the still bolder ones have
been taking: private lessons of Mr.
Rector, who taught New Tork's 400,
appearing under the patronage of Mrs.
Stuyvesant Fish, Mrs. George Gould,
Mrs. Townsend Martin and other so
ciety leaders, and who recently man
aged the successful tango festival at
Los Angeles. His introduction to Japan
was at The Dansant at the Grand Ho
tel, Tokohama. However, entire credit
for introducing the tango into the Ori
ent cannot be given to Mr. Rector; it
was first danced in February of this
year at Shanghai that Far Eastern
port fond of calling herself the "Paris
of the Orient." -- .
On the occasion of the American
ball, given each year on Washington's
birthday by American residents of that
international municipality, the tango
was "demonstrated" by a dozen couples
who found themselves the cynosure of
1400 pairs of eyes. They had been prae-
tlclng for weeks on the new steps and
this was their first public appearance.
When tli orchestra swung into a one
step melody the guests those who
were not acquainted with the dance
ranged themselves about the ballroom,
forming a hollow square, and watched
with breathless interest the exhibition,
while the Father of His Country gazed
down benignly from his frame on the
wall, where his portrait was hung un
der crossed flags of the red, white and
blue. Just what he, thought of it in
comparison with the stately minuet of
the Western dancers are likely to sap
plant the graceful, stately posturing of
Japan's classic dancers, the geisha, it
is highly probable that the freedom and
abandon of the new steps may have a
revolutionizing effect on . the rather
stilted dance of Japan's butterfly-like
entertainers, whose grace and beauty
and wit have been toasted for centu
ries. Mr. Rector declares that the tango
has many steps in common with those
used by the geisha, notably the
"clicking" step, marked by the
stamping of the foot, a characteristic
phase of the Japanese dance; another
is the "deml-lune," and still another
the "scissors-step." The cat-like
smoothness of the proper Argentine
tango is practiced by the natives with
silver dollars on their shoulders. This
same wonderful smoothness, with no
movement of the body above the hips,
no dipping, no shoulder movement, is
a part of the long and arduous train
ing of the geisha dancer, who often
begins her career at eight or nine
years, studying for 10 years before
she makes her appearance as a paid
entertainer. Mr. Rector, who has been
making a special study of the geisha
dance, asserts that it is the cleanest
dancing 'be has ever seen. "There is
not," said he, "a gesture, not a pose,
and no single movement that is vulgar
or suggestive. : The performers are all
apt pupils of the Western dance steps.
They are born mimics, and catrh the
new steps with n mazing readiness, the
chief difficulty being the rhythm, the
lack- of which makes their own dances
more or less monotonous."
Recently a small party of Ameri
cans was privileged to see an exhibi
tion of dancing in one of the hand
some private residences in Tokio, tba
owner being one of the malti-mllllanx-aires
of Dal Nippon. The dancer was
none other than the wife of the host,
who is an enthusiastic devote of the
art terpsichorean and who performed
for them some wonderful interpretive
dances which she had learned under
her teacher, a man of 70 years. One
of the dances depicted the story of
"The Wronged Wife," and Into it th
graceful young woman threw all the
fire of emotion that the story de-
(1 sS SsTjjO&r&rt ,
" J J S.r jfy.
his own day he did not say, but that manded, running the gamut from sus-
astute diplomat. Dr. Wu Ting Fang,
who stood on the raised dais at one
end of the room, confided to me that
he saw nothing in the dance "to make
such a fuss about." He was quite right;
as danced by the Shanghai debutantes
and society matrons and beaux, it was
innocuous enough quite denatured, as minative
it were. Indeed, it is doubtful if the J-apanese
sinuous, red-lipped, lithe-limbed origi
nators of the dance would have recog
nized it. The young woman who acted
as instructor had learned the steps by.
mail from an acquaintance in Paris.-
However, this did not mar the glory
of the occasion. Shanghai had clasped
hands with the rest of the world, and
they straightway began having the
dansants at the Astor House, while
across the Tellow. Sea the Japanese
newspapers commented on their up-to-dateness.
Not long after that a dancing
teacher fi San Francisco tangoed her
way across Vhe Pacific on a big Ocean
liner and set the ball rolling in Toka
hama and Tokio. Since then the tango
craze has ha4 the Orient by the toes,
in spite of the war. v. .
Wbile no sane person will assart that
picion to jealousy, to rage, to despair.
and finally to death by her own hand.
While- the dance was, strong in emo
tional appeal, nevertheless it was
dominated by her .intellect, and - made
a profound impression on her guests.
In contrast, to this, but equally illu-
as to the possibilities of
interpretive dancing, was a
dance given by her young daughter
called "Going to School," which in. its
simplicity of movement and exposition
of childish grace was thoroughly de
lightful. .Although she has a certifi
cate of dancing as an exponent of the
Japanese school, the mother is learning-
the new Western dances and Is
vastly enthusiastic over them.
This year the death of the Empress
Dowager put a great damper - on the
cherry dances, always a popular fea
ture and sought out by tourists all
over the world. The most famous of
these cherry dances is given each year
in Kyoto, the ancient capital, the
beauty of whose scenery, the glories
of whose court, and the bravery of
whose warriors form the theme ox
each year and practiced for months
before their public performance.
This year the Mlyako-Odori, as the
Kyoto cherry dance is called, had been of the Emperor, which had been do- Empress Dowager early In April n
divided Into eight acts or dances, two f erred one year until after the close Bleated an Immediate change In
of which were specially devised in com-, of thn official TMiHnri of
oreirea newtr. pumenjaa me app manning coronaUon the late Emperor. Tie death, of the peror IXancel hin sayplaaxed. by
. the
Em-
"KUku-no-Ten." or chrysanfhe
banquet; and the seventh by the
"Oek&ytt-den,' or an Imaginary palace
in heaven. The notice of this change
was made by printed slip and inserted
in the regular programme.
Although the Miyako-Odori intro
duced several beautiful dances, and
the dancers included noted exponents
of the art, as a whole that performance
had distinctive competition this year
In the "Minatogawa Odori," given In
Kobe as a feature of the big export
commodities exposition. Here the en
tertain era were scheduled to appear
three times daily and at frequent In
tervals on holidays. The performance
lasted an hour and a half, 11 dances
being given in that time, lasting from
five to eight minutes each. Provision
was made for foreign visitors, uphol
stered seats being placed In the bal
cony, the front row selling for one yen,
20 sen, or 60 cents.
Those, in the rear for SO sen, or 40
cents 'United States money. - Before be
ing shown to a seat the visitor was
taken to an anteroom and there served
with "chanoyu," ceremonial tea and
cakes; the tea is a concoction of pow
dered tea leaves whipped into boiling
water with a split bamboo utensil, the
mixture "being of the consistence and
color of tea puree, bitter to the taste
and extremely noxious' to the uniniti
ated. The making and serving of this
beverage is regarded as a fine art and
is a part" of . the education of every
well-bred Japanese girt. Before the
smilingagaze and profound bows of the
little novice geisha who served it. one
felt obliged to drink the draught, but
the knowledge of the custom of carry
ing. home, the cake in the paper napkin
provided, spared us the task of eating
the. bean . paste mixture which was
served as cake, and which to most
foreigners Is an acquired taste.
From our balcony vantage point we
foreign visitors looked down upon the
resident patrons, who in their native
dress squatted on. their heels, kept
their hats on and smoked contentedly
tiirougnout the performance.
After a brief wait, i a signal, cur
tains on- either side of the theater
were 'raised, disclosing the orchestra,
all- women, all geisha, all elaborately
garbed and coifed and painted,', and all
leaning on cushions of a crimson silk.
On one side were ten samlsen players.,
and 'on the other ten drummers. The
larger drums were played with sticks
while the tsuguml. or small drum was'
struck by.-the flat of the hand, giving
forth a. dull hollow sound. The over
ture was-weird performance, marked
by the- nasal tones of the samisan
player's who - chanted as they struck
their instruments with their plectrums,
while across the way the picturesque
drummers were giving vent to sharp,
unmusical cries. One had only to close
the eyes and picture an Indian ghost
dance, the "Oh ah, oh ah" of the
drummers, the incessant beating, the
measured slowness and solemnity of it,
-emphasizing the comparison.
"'IB'ut with the entrance of the geisha,
"every' eye was fastened upon the ap
proaching dancers. They came from
the rear of the theater, advancing
slowly with measured, creeping steps,
their little feet In their white tabi.
the bifurcated sock, barely lifted from
the floor. There were 24 of them and
they advanced along "Flowery Way,"
the narrow platform that runs down
the two sides of the house on a level
with the stage giving the audience an
admirable view of their gorgeous
costumes, elaborate head-dresses and
petite and graceful figures. The two
lines met in the center of the stage,
the dancers bowing and. posturing witn
their -fn, '
Once behind, the footlights, with the
curtain raised disclosing silver screens
depicting the scene of a battle fought
500 years before on the very site of the
exposition, the full beauty of the dan
cers and their elaborate customes
came into relief.
They were dressed alike in kimonos
of the richest silk crepe, dark blue as
to background, with pink cherry blooms
scattered over the whole. The elaborate
obi (sash) was of yellow brocade, em
broidered in gold dragons. The neck:
fold was of scarlet, while the blue
black satiny hair was done In fantas
tic loops and. bows tied with silver
cords and embellished with Jade hair
pins, pink cherry blooms and butter
flies. Powdered with rice powder un
til their faces resembled a plaster
mask, with a pout of the lower lip pro
duced by a dash or rouge, their faces
were, throughout the performance, as
expressionless as one of their own
painted wooden dolls.
Interpretive they were not In so far
as they expressed the human emotions,
for the geisha has been taught from
her childhood to suppress all feeling,
and this repression, artificiality, en
ters into the dance. There is neither
joy or sorrow, nor the emotions that
lie between, depicted. Instead, there is
studied grace and a series of beautiful
arm movements, which show to advan
tage the really lovely hands and curv
ing arms of these dainty, petite crea
tures. I was interested to observe that the
only applause during the performance
was granted, not to the successful ex
position of a dance, but in appreciation
of a beautiful scene.
The programme announced that the
scenes would be changed 11 times in
order that the meaning of the various
songs, representing the four seasons of
the year, might be appropriately illus
trated. The first depicted a battle
scene, the second showed Nagata tem
ple, decorated with wild oranges and
with gifts of rice cakes before the
altar on the first day of the new year.
The dance represented the ceremony of
frightening off the demons, the most
memorable feature of which was the
stealthy exit of the dancers, who pat
tered off the stage in their moccasin
like footgear, Indian file, and with the
peculiar toeing-ln, flat-footed gait of
the Indian tquaw. '
' The third dance was a fantasy laud
ing the achievements of Kiyomori, the
head of the Taira clan; the fourth, the
last of the Spring, series, showed the
imperial detached palace at Tauklml
yama, Suma. with the iris in bloom,
after which, in a twinkling, the palace
walls fell back, the gardens disappear
ing upon one of the most beautiful
scenes of the evening, Kaauga temple
at Kara, with the avenue of tail cryp
tomarla trees in the foreground, count
less mossy stone temple lanterns lin
ing the path, and, in the darkness, hun
dreds of fireflies flitting through the
air.
Six of the dancers appeared carrying
tiny screened cages used in firefly
hunting on Summer evenings, and they
were later joined by six more. "Here,"
thought the visitors, "will be action of
the freer sort, the conception of the
dance giving play to creative artistry."
But no, the little cages were deposited
on the floor at their feet, and ranged
in a row, double and single alternately,
they went through the same endless
posturing.
The two other Summer dances de
picted the weaver festival at Kyoto
near the imperial palace and the Bon
festival with the Buddhist hiero
glyphic, the sign for "great," appear
ing in fire on the mountain as the
dance proceeded.
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