A tour de force from Japan’s living treasure

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the locally based Katada Kai traditional Japanese performing arts organization presented an authoritative performance of Kabuki music and dance at the Japan America Theatre on Sunday.

Officially designated a national living treasure by the Japanese government, percussion master Katada Kisaku spent most of the program playing the hourglass drum in ensembles mixing guests from Japan with local artists. Playing music composed in the 18th and 19th centuries, these ensembles ranged up to 16 members and included treble-drums, samisens and vocalists, plus solo flute.

In “Mukashibanashi Tanuki,” the 67-year-old Katada knelt before an arsenal of percussion instruments and used them to ornament the declamatory singing and rhythmic samisen playing of six others. This was a tour de force, but one emphasizing taste and immaculate control.

After intermission came dances: the supple and flirtatious Bando Hidesomi and Bando Hirohichiro in the genre piece “Yoshiwara Suzume” and a quartet led by Hanayagi Wakana in the more formal nature study “Kimigayo Shouchikubai.”

The duet highlighted the delicacy of gesture in Japanese classical dance, the quartet a dimension of elegant sculptural design, especially in the passage for Hanayagi Wakana (the spirit of the pine) and Hanayagi Wakayayoi (the spirit of bamboo).

The dances took place in front of folding screens. Each of the musical selections, however, featured a distinctive scenic context.