Ryukyuan Dance Notation (10) : The Notation of Woman's Dance : YOTSUDAKE

This papaer is a case of the Ryukyuan Dance notation applying to a classical dance, "YOTSUDAKE" one of the woman's seven dance. "YOTSUDAKE" is a celebratory dance perfomed as an introduction to dance programs. Carrying flowers, dancers wear bamboo hats and costumes with traditional Okinawan bingata designs. In each hand they hold two 15 cm strips of bamboo collectively known as YOTSUDAKE ("four bamboos"), which are beaten together in time to the music. The more dancers, the greater the splendor, which is why this extremely colorful dance is especially suited to group performances. Since the Meiji period it has been commonly assumed that this dance was intended for commercial, group performances. The lyrics say:"Striking the yotsudake, we are honored to come and dance in this performance," As observed in the previous paper, the notation has the following characteristics to present the dance from various perspectives:!) the movements of the body clearly shown by pictures, 2) the notation of the movements and music, 3) the combination of the picture-figure notation, fugo notation, and the symbols consist of the notation of "YOTSUDAKE," 4) the explannation of the dance, 5) the songs, and 6) the way to dance