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Paper short abstract

This study examines henge buyo in ozashiki performances by Morioka geisha, where multiple roles are expressed without costume changes. Motion analysis and interviews reveal that subtle changes in posture, timing, and movement enable rapid role transformation through bodily expression alone.

Paper long abstract

Costume is widely regarded as a crucial element in dance, functioning as a primary visual marker for conveying a character’s gender, age, and social status. How, then, can a dancer articulate distinct roles when costume and makeup are deliberately excluded?

This question lies at the core of geisha dance performed in ozashiki, intimate banquet settings within teahouses. In these spaces, performers appear without stage scenery or costume changes and rely solely on bodily expression to render character.

This challenge becomes particularly pronounced in henge buyo (transformational dance), a genre within nihonbuyo in which a single performer embodies multiple characters through movement alone. As a popular genre in nihonbuyo, henge buyo is frequently performed by geisha in ozashiki settings, demanding rapid and legible role differentiation without visual transformation.

Accordingly, this study seeks to empirically clarify the techniques underlying henge buyo, focusing on the constituent elements through which dancers generate and articulate bodily expressions that distinguish different roles.

The analysis is based on experiments involving motion measurement conducted with four dancers of differing levels of expertise, with a particular focus on Yoko, a Morioka geisha (82 years old as of 2025), known in nihonbuyo under the stage name Wakayagi Rikiyo IV. The participants performed a set of fundamental actions, including preparatory stances, turns, walking, hand clapping, and neck movements, while embodying eleven distinct characters. To ensure precise observation, all participants wore clothing that clearly revealed body movement. In addition, interviews using a semi structured approach were conducted to examine both the characteristics of each role (such as gender, age, and social status) and the performers’ own perceptions of their role expressions.

Through these combined analyses, this study elucidates the embodied techniques that enable rapid and intelligible role transformation without costume, as realized in the ozashiki performance practices of Morioka geisha.