Air and water (Kyoto VI)

Against the golden backdrop, the white painted faces.

Yesterday I went to a traditional dance performance near Chion-in temple. My luck with everything has been quite bad lately. This time it was different though. I was lucky to meet very nice people, a family who helped me to get inside the venue and who listened my blabbering before and after the performance. These days this kind of meeting feels like water or air, something essential. I'm a boiling teakettle, and talking to people is like lifting the lid. Those who know me are now surprised. Or not.

I don't know about the backgrounds of the traditional Japanese dance. Like many art forms, I must, or try to see it like a child would see it. It's a good way to look at the world too. To see it like it was the first time. The world and the things we create out of it are hypnotizing. So was this dance performance. The striving for perfection, the subtle and meaningful movement and gestures. Feet stomping occasionally and even eyes dancing too. It's not just extremely feminine, delicate and graceful, there is a layer of intense emotion laying underneath the surface, a strong will that came through ages to this day. There I was, again sitting and feeling related to something that is so Japanese. But some things are Japanese and universal at the same time.

I didn't want to disturb the performance so I have just a few photos to show.