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Joi ItoGion Geisha Dance (2003)

Mameyoshi recently became a geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto. She was a maiko until recently. She became a shamisen geisha and this is her first performance for us. Originally posted on joi.ito.com.


This movie is part of the collection: Community Video

Producer: Joi Ito
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: geisha; dance; gion
Contact Information: jito@neoteny.com

Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

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Reviewer: johnmanno - - August 30, 2005
Subject: Excellent performance marred by extraneous noise
A truly beautiful performance by three geisha, a dance for two women accompanied by a singer self-accompanied on a shamisen. The costumes are of course magnificent and the dance is stunningly beautiful, complex and subtle. The music is ravishing as well.

But alas! The realities of modern Japan! There is what sounds like a loudspeaker squaking something unintelligible in the background for a long period, and then towards the end someone is setting off some kind of camera that makes a dreadful noise.

I suppose one can say that this is itself perhaps a symbol, of how beautiful traditional cultures have been and continue to be obliterated by modern consumerism--which is anything but subtle and complex; and is rarely, if ever, beautiful.

Still, I wish I could have seen and heard the performance without the interruptions. Perhaps some day....

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Joi Ito