But the real stars of the recital were our sensei. All the sensei performed a piece either at the beginning or the end, but our sensei also supported others. Oe-san chanted for Wen-Hsuan as she did her shoulder drum solo. All three Noh sensei chanted in accompaniment for the drum sensei. Then they performed their own shimai and chanted for each other. Tamoi-san did a warrior dance from 'Ebira' that took our breath away. Although we had seen him demonstrate steps and kata many times,and of course he demonstrated parts of the role of the snake ghost from Dojo-ji, we had never seen Tamoi-san play a full shimai. Our gentle sensei looked so fierce! We were thrilled! Katayama-san performed a poignant dance of a woman mourning her husband's infidelity ('Izutsu')as Tamoi-san and Oe-san moaned a soft utai. The power of Katayama's stillness and the low moaning intensified the depiction of her grief. Then Oe-san took the dai sho mae and EXPLODED as a demon. The whole stage (his home turf!) shook as he stamped and leapt around the stage. At the end, he jumped in the air did a 360 and landed with a deafening crash! I think everyone in the audience was panting by the end! We rushed backstage to meet our masters and to prepare for the final act - and unprecedented event of amateurs (us!) assisting in a chorus that a professional (Katayama Shingo Sensei!) would dance to as a god foretelling the future of the emperor ('Kuzu kiri'). This was the utai we had struggled so much to learn. (see Post "Feeling Competitive" August 1) We bowed to each other backstage and walked out to take our places - women in front, men in back. Katayama-san entered, we took our fans into our laps as he began the utai - "Hereupon, his sacred presence manifests itself" - Katayama-san stood, and I desperately wished my arms were long enough to reach forward and tug his hakama pleats into place, but they naturally fell into place anyway - why? - because our sensei is perfect, of course. All our sensei ROCK!
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