大勝館踊りDancing
A couple of months ago, Togura Kamiyamada Onsen's last strip joint threw in the towel (?) and quit business. In its place, Taisho-Kan opened up, bringing bringing performance groups from Tokyo's Asakusa district to do geisha-inspired drag shows. I have to be honest here, I'm not sure if watching guys dressed as girls appeals to me more than girls undressing so I've been hesitant to go. However, I have been put in charge of making a pamphlet on our town's geisha tradition, including Taisho-Kan, so today I went for, err, research purposes.
The show consists of 3 acts, the 1st was solo and group dancing, the 2nd was a yakuza-geisha play, the 3rd was like the 1st but with more emphasis on individual talents. The dancing was an impressive display of traditional Japanese dance, and by the looks on the faces of the real geisha in the audience, the guys were very talented. There's just something disconcerting about seeing the beautiful flowing movement of the silk kimonos, but underneath seeing hairy legs. I will say this, though: I'd like to go see the performance a second time. And that's more than I could say for the building's previous incarnation.
数ヶ月前に戸倉上山田温泉の最後のヌード劇場が止めて、代わりに大勝館の女装した男性の日本舞踊・芸者踊りショーが始まりました。正直って、私は女の服を着る男の踊りを、服を脱ぐ女の踊りより見たいかと聞かれたら困りますが、私がこの温泉の芸者遺産のパンフを書く担当になりましたので研究の為に観賞してきました。
ショーは3ステージで第一が個人とグループ踊り、第二がやくざ・芸者劇、第三が第一と同じけどもう少しそれぞれの人の才能に集中したよう。すごく綺麗な動きに、着物の下に見えた足のけばけばさは不思議な気分ちでしたが、一緒に観賞していた本物の芸者の表情から言えば踊りが上手でした。まあ、これだけは言えます：また見たいと思いました。それは以前のショーには言えませんでした。
個人踊り Solo Dance
旗の前Flags
劇Geisha-Yakuza play
Actors out front after the show
