Kikunokai Troupe Performs With Charm

Moments of memorable stage magic set the seal on an artful and charming performance by the Kikunokai Japanese Traditional Dance Troupe on Sunday at the Japan America Theatre.

The atmospheric nature cycle “Kazamichi” began with a dance of winter in which the stage floor seemed to be covered with large chunks of ice. But when the dance concluded, the ice began to flatten out and “melt” into gleaming rivulets that quickly flowed away: a wondrous cloth-and-rope effect by the late designer-director Tetsuhiko Maeda.

In the colorful folk-suite “Umi Haruka Nippon O Odoru,” none of the distinguished musicians or splashy flag, fan, clog, umbrella, scarf and sword dancers proved quite as enchanting as Nagamitsu Satake and Hideharu Takeda in their childlike kite duet. Every tug by Satake on the imaginary strings, every lighter-than-air swoop and dive by Takeda revealed superb physical mastery and perfect timing.

Among the finest other soloists here: samisen master Yujiro Takahashi and singer Akiko Ozawa.

Specializing in Japanese classical and folk idioms, the Kikunokai company was founded in 1972 by Michiyo Hata, best known for her choreography in Akira Kurosawa’s Oscar-winning 1988 film “Dreams.” In the classical solo “Otomedake” Sunday, Hata made a gracious bamboo maiden, though her finest moment came not in the forceful robe-swirling passages or gestural expression but in an emotional transition in which she stood in an elegant pose, her eyes filled with tears and she walked slowly away.

Purists might argue that Hata’s folkloric pieces have been softened and stylized by her classical aesthetic, leaving them far too brief, sweet and orderly. But the performance skills and production values on view help make Kikunokai valuable as an entertaining introduction to a rich, underappreciated folk culture for audiences in Japan and abroad.