Revisiting Past Practice: Traditional Japanese Dance Origins and Contemporary Dance Choreographic Practice

The main purpose of this thesis research is to discover and explore the traditional Japanese dance elements that may dialogue with contemporary dance choreography and also find the methodology to successfully incorporate dancers individuality during the choreographic process. There will be an introduction to the history of the Japanese classical dance piece called The Wisteria Maiden/Fuji Musume (1826) originated from Kabuki (Classical Japanese Theatre). By revealing its history and searching movement aesthetics through this dance work, the research will incorporate some of the choreographic elements of Japanese movement aesthetics such as kamae (pose), koshi (hip), ju-shin (centre of gravity), and uchiwa (turned in feet) as well as the research of internationally well-known Japanese artists in Dance (Tatsumi Hijikata), Theatre (Tadashi Suzuki), and Film (Akira Kurosawa) into new contemporary dance work, New Nostalgia. In addition to the choreographic elements, there will be a contemporization of the elements of the production of this work, that includes the stage set, props, and the motif of wisteria flowers, and a collaborative process with a paper artist.