Abstract:

"The Kabuki Dance Series showcases Tamasaburo Bando, Kabuki's greatest performer of female roles, at the height of his powers as a dancer. Tamasaburo is world-reknowned for his performances in film and on stage with Maurice Bejart, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Yo-Yo Ma. Each DVD in the series includes an excellent, comprehensive English language commentary by Oxford University scholar Paul M. Griffith explaining the history and details of the play and of the performance." --http://www.afk.com || Performing the classic dance story Sagi Musume (The Heron Maiden), Tamasaburo portrays the resentful spirit of a heron, who, having assumed the form of a young woman, falls in unrequited love with a man. Five costume changes take place as, before our eyes, we see the heron take the form of an innocent young girls and then an older and more experienced woman. In the end, she is wounded, and, having resumed the form of a heron, dances out her death throes.