"The Rhythm and Pause of Japanese Classic Dance" : Esthetics of Traditional Arts in Japan

• Published in: Yamano aesthetic archives Vol. 1; no. 1; pp. 53 - 60
• Main Author: MASUKO, Hiroshige
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Yamano college of aesthetics 25.03.1993; 学校法人 山野学苑 山野美容芸術短期大学
• Subjects: concentration; emotion; pause; posture; rhythm; トッタン; 呼吸; 気合; 舞; 間拍子
• ISSN: 0919-6323; 2433-6424
• DOI: 10.24714/yca.1.1_53

Japanese classic dance is called the "art of rhythm and pause", which is also the characteristics of Japanese traditional arts in general, while Western dances in Europe (or in America) are required to move actively without pause. In this case, the word of "pause" is used for "stop of motion", or "suspension of movement." In the traditional arts of Japan, however, "pause" does not always mean a break in action, but rather a form of action in the continuous stream of rhythmical movement. At a pause, of course, dancing motion apparently stops for a moment. A Japanese dancer's posture, though, is perpetually moving in a mental sphere. In this essay, the whole statement is divided into three parts or three stages. In the first stage, an ordinary pattern of rhythm and pause is treated about the classic dance of Japan, and in the second place an extraordinary one is studied. These patterns of rhythm and pause are not dealt with any more in the last stage of this treatise. Here we are interested in the emotional aspect of the Japanese art of dance, which is to be expressed with the deep concentration of energy and passion on the part of a dance player, not (to be expressed) by the formal combination of rhythm and pause.