Dance Review : ‘Ryukyu’ Celebrates Okinawan Culture

Although a number of speeches at the Wadsworth Theater on Sunday defined “Rhythm of Ryukyu” as an introduction to the performing arts of Okinawa for the people of Los Angeles, this three-hour program of traditional music and dance largely duplicated what two other visiting ensembles had presented at the Japan America Theatre in 1992 and 1993.

To a non-specialist, the extraordinary complement of musicians may have been the most distinctive element of the performance (a benefit for the UCLA Asian American Studies Center). In the opening “Kagiyadefu” ensemble alone, the playing of some 30 sanshin men and koto women--augmented by solo flute and drum--established a bright, detailed and slightly astringent context for the men’s rich choral singing.

Sweet, flowing and refined, this group vocalism remained prominent even in dance accompaniments requiring far fewer instruments. And none proved more deeply sensuous than “Muramigui.”

Okinawan culture boasts glittering court, vibrant folk and flamboyant martial arts traditions--plus costuming that can be a show in itself. On Sunday, the fierce, charismatic Eiko Miyazato courted danger in a karate showpiece involving scythes on ropes. Whirling them over his shoulders, under his legs, behind his back and around his neck, he embodied an extreme of Ryukyu extroversion.

The influence of karate on Okinawan folk dance dominated bold solos by Mieko Higa and Yoshinobu Oyakawa. In contrast, the elegant Takeyoshi Higa could make the smallest shifts of pose and the simplest walking steps into compelling movement statements during two artful solos: the lively, warm “Hatoma-Bushi” and the severe, martial “Zei No Odori.”

Tatsuko Inamine most often represented the ultimate in female classical purity on the program, but women’s artistry also shone in the moonstruck quartet “Hamachidori” and “Yotsudake,” in which both choreography and performance remained subordinate to the dancers’ ravishing red-and-gold kimonos and gigantic flower hats.

Sixteen members of Nancy Nakaya’s school offered a living example of Asian American studies in their exciting Obon Festival dance-and-drum guest segment. And the company invited the whole audience onstage at the end of the performance to learn Okinawan dance firsthand.