Traditional Japanese dance

Japanese traditional dance has a long history, the oldest known ones may be among those transmitted through the kagura tradition, or folk dances relating to food producing activities such as planting rice (dengaku) and fishing, including rain dances. There are large number of these traditional dances, which are often subfixed -odori, -asobi, and -mai, and may be specific to a region or village.Mai and Odori are the two main groups of Japanese dances, and the term Buyō (舞踊) was coined in modern times as a general term for "dance", by combining mai (舞, which can also be pronounced bu) and odori (踊, can also be pronounced yō).

Mai is a more reserved genre of dance that often has circling movements, and dances of the Noh theatre are of this tradition. A variation of the Mai style of Japanese dance is the Kyomai or Kyoto-style dance. Kyomai developed in the 17th century Tokugawa cultural period. It is heavily influenced by the elegance and sophistication of the manners often associated with the Imperial Court in Kyoto.Odori has more vigorous stepping movements and is more energetic, and dances of the kabuki theatre belong to this category.

There are several types of traditional Japanese dance.

Kabuki (歌舞伎) is a classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.

The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing (歌), dance (舞), and skill (伎). Kabuki is therefore sometimes translated as "the art of singing and dancing". These are, however, ateji characters which do not reflect actual etymology. The kanji of 'skill' generally refers to a performer in kabuki theatre. Since the word kabuki is believed to derive from the verb kabuku, meaning "to lean" or "to be out of the ordinary", kabuki can be interpreted as "avant-garde" or "bizarre" theatre. The expression kabukimono (歌舞伎者) referred originally to those who were bizarrely dressed and swaggered on a street.

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