The first act titled Nagauta Echigo Jishi {The Lion Dancer from the Province of Echigo}. Echigo Jishi describes a lion folk dance from the Kanabra area in the Echigo province. The piece itself is composed into various 'mini' dances, all describing the different products and landscapes that makes Echigo famous. The highlight of this Kabuki dance drama was when Nakamura Gankyō wears an ippon-geta {one-slate wooden clogs} and performs a tap dance followed by the mimicking of the washing ofsarashi {long strands of silk}. The dance itself took around 20mins. 

The second act, an instrumental performance titled, Nagauta Genroku Hanami Odori {The Dance of the Cherry-Blossom Viewing in Genroke Era}. Composed by Kineya Shōjirō III in 1878, this Nagauta song consists of various melodies and flower dances representing the Genroku period {1688~1704}. A period considered to be Japan's second Golden Age, this song reflects the extravagance and lavish lifestyle during the time.

Third act titled Kiyomoto Onatsu Kyōran {The Plight of Onatsu} is a story that originates from a 17th-century novel by Ihara Saikaku, while the lyrics of the dance were written by Tsubouchi Shōyō and first performed in 1914.It is one of the best surviving examples of early 20th-century theater reform, seeking to do away with the many illogicalities of traditional Kabuki dance and instead concentrate on the 'psychological realism' of the characters. Sixteen-year-old Onatsu, falls madly in love with her father's clerk Seijūrō; however, their love is forbidden by Tokugawa law, for a lowly clerk could not marry the merchant's daughter. After their arrest, Seijūrō is sentenced to death and upon hearing the news, Onatsu goes insane.

Over the last two years, Palmdale has been my home sweet home. For those of you not familiar with this place, Palmdale is in the outskirts of Los Angeles county, about 70 miles northeast of Downtown L.A. It's in what they call, the high desert or the A.V., short for The Antelope Valley. Palmdale gets really hot in the summer months, often over 100° and cold enough to snow in the winter with lows in the 20's. Housing is much less here compared to other areas in LA county. Public transit sucks in Palmdale with local buses, commuter bus & commuter rail service connecting Palmdale with the greater LA metro area as well as regional transit to Bakersfield. A simple joyride to Downtown L.A. via the Metrolink can take up to three hours! The AVTA, Palmdale's version of the MTA, can take up to an hour of wait time, let alone an additional hour to get across town.

GEEKY TECH INFO: Nikon F5 with 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens and Fuji 160S film, developed & scanned at Camera Color.