The Maiden at Dojoji Temple

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The Maiden at Dojoji Temple

1753, Edo

The show is a virtual succession of dance highlights by a beautiful young woman, enhanced by eight costume changes and an inventive employment of props from hats and fans to hand towels and musical instruments. With its glittering variety of dances of love, this is considered the ultimate role for an onnagata female-role specialist.
The ancient legend of Dojoji,a temple located in present-day Wakayama Prefecture, tells of a jealous woman who takes her revenge by turning into a snake, tenaciously pursuing the man who scorned her into a temple and burning him to death as he tries to take refuge under a bell. In the much older Noh version, a dancer possessed by the spirit of the woman appears several hundred years after the incident, her nature revealed only when she knocks down the bell during her dance. The focus is on a single person’s obsession. The Kabuki uses the same storyline but encompasses a wide range of female emotions. The work has thus achieved broad appeal. The furisode, a long-sleeved kimono for young unmarried women, emerged around the time of this dance and was incorporated into the performance. As a result, the furisode became a key theme in onnagata dance and has remained so in modern times.

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Hanako（Onoe Kikunosuke）　November 2011　Shimbashi Enbujo Theatre