| |
| | What is Kabuki? |
 | | The most characteristic of the kata, the mie, is a gesture representing that moment when a character's passion, anger, despair, or madness is about to finally burst the disciplined surface of their outward behavior. |
 | | Paradoxically, what is appreciated about the mie is not its passion or chaos, but the incredible control, discipline and skill it takes for the actor to perform it. |
 | | It is this paradox, the ability for self-control and discipline to co-exist side by side with uncontrolled human emotion, violence, and passion, which lies at the heart of the experience of kabuki theater and explains why it was so popular in the inflexible society of Tokugawa Japan. |
| www.wsu.edu /~dee/KABUKI/WHATIS.HTM (3862 words) |
|