Tradition Triumphs in ‘Buyo’ Anthology

Hanayagi Takujiro belongs to a Japanese family with a history of choreography for the Grand Kabuki dating back more than 200 years. However, his clan’s involvement with Western-style modernism remains all too obviously recent. So you can guess which type of assignment found the handsome 34-year-old dancer-choreographer looking brilliantly authoritative and which hopelessly silly Sunday afternoon at the Japan America Theatre.

In “The World of Hanayagi Takujiro: Anthology of Buyo,” he joined dancers Hanayagi Takubei (his father), Hanayagi Kazuayaki (no relation), Bando Hidesomi and a host of distinguished musicians in a survey of Japanese traditional dance. It began with “Ayatsuri Sambaso” from 1853, in which father and son portray a puppeteer and his accident-prone marionette. Both displayed masterly mime skills and great vigor and each soon ventured character-dance solos requiring even more concentrated power and subtlety: “Kuroda Bushi” for Takubei, “Shana O” for Takujiro.

Sweeping gestures with a fan, forceful walking steps accented with a thunderous stamp, the use of the eyes to convey nobility and intelligence: These tests of artistry revealed a dance culture prioritizing meticulous movement detail and performer precision, qualities also evident in the solo “Akikaze no Kyoku,” choreographed by Takujiro and danced by Kazuayaki.

After intermission came lush contemporary music from the group Kokin-gumi, with Takujiro and Kazuayaki looking as if they’d wandered into the wrong party but were determined to keep dancing along in a bastardized contemporary style until they found the exit. The relentless use of a smoke machine reinforced the sense of foggy overkill.