The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s dance and theater department continued to honor the Japanese art form of kabuki this summer. The department hosted its inaugural two-week intensive training program led by kabuki master Ichikawa Monnosuke VIII.
Kabuki is a classical Japanese form of theater that contains dancing, singing, voice acting, and miming. Colorful costumes, exaggerated facial expressions, and kumadori makeup are widely used throughout productions to heighten the drama.
This practice is no stranger to Hawaiʻi, as last year marked 100 years of English-led kabuki in the islands…