Classical Japanese Dance | Traditional Japanese Dance (1)

Nihonbashi Bridge in the City of Edo (Oedo Nihonbashi) is one of the first dances I teach my beginning students. The choreography utilizes techniques introduced in the courses on Fundamental Technique of Classical Japanese Dance (coming soon), so taking all these courses together will give you a solid foundation.

The song depicts the fifty-three stations along the Tōkaidō highway between Edo and Kyoto. During the Edo period (1603-1868), the Nihonbashi bridge was the starting point of all the major roads radiating from Edo into various regions of Japan. People traveled on foot, and it took them over two weeks to go from Edo to Kyoto. Therefore, I like to think of this dance as the starting point of the long journey you are about to begin in learning Classical Japanese Dance.

This dance is versatile and suitable for anyone, regardless of age and gender. In this course, I demonstrate the dance in three different gender and age expressions: (1) neutral, (2) man/boy, and (3) young girl. If you are a beginner student, start with the neutral expression and gradually experiment with other variations. Furthermore, you can dance each style with a sensu (“fan” for dancing) or without. This dance may be performed as a solo, duet, trio, or group dance.