Dream of Takarazuka: 26 & 27
Feb. 20th, 2014 10:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
26 ~*~ Second Foreign Performance
And again Ōura-san set out on a foreign performance1.
I had spent time frivolously on Grand Theater, Tokyo Theater, and Bow Hall performances, and within limitations you could see the evidence of my growth, I suppose, because this time wh-wh-what!? I was sent out as nibante2.
Previously, on the Central American Tour, I had become a thorough fan of national tours, so I participated in high spirits.
This time I was no underling. And more importantly, I would not be expected to perform the dreaded maiko3, so I was happy.
*
Incidentally, my mother had seen my trial performance of a nihonmono4 at Bow Hall, and told me the tears had flowed.
"That maiko you did was now a young man," seems to have been the only impression it left her with.
But I suspected that behind those words was more than a parent's joy at a child's growth, but also a hidden dislike of my performance as a maiko. Ah, poor me.
On no account, not even as a lead role, will I ever play a maiko! I swore in my heart.
We were scheduled for a one-month tour through the four countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Burma (modern day Myanmar), so it was a performance a bit like a forced march, but leave it to youth to perform, play, and travel about with great enjoyment, and it was done.
Excluding the terrifying food poisoning incident....
For nearly all of the performers on this tour, there was one incident or another.
The Incident of Gecko Terror, the Incident of Not Being Able to Eat Rice, the Incident of Dropping Down the Drain, and so forth. If I wrote them all down I doubt they'd ever end, so I'll omit them, but to be truthful they were all small incidents.
But the Southeast Asia Tour's greatest incident was the Food Poisoning Incident.
To preserve it for far future generations, this incident alone I will share with you all.
27 ~*~ The Terrifying Food Poisoning Incident
The place was our third country, in a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. The cause, the meals we had eaten that day, and the day before, in Singapore. (Because that day had been organized for everyone, the entire troupe had eaten the same meal. However, only three people manifested food poisoning, or so I sleuthed out.)
Singapore was the most metropolitan of the countries we visited.
Name brand shopping centers were all lined up, and discos, and lots of places for leisure.
How on earth were we expected to stay put?
I was receiving a bit of star treatment, but in spite of being busy with early morning press interviews and courtesy calls, I ran around shopping during the lunch break, performed at night, and without acknowledging being tired we were out all night dancing at the discos.
On top of everything else, the Singapore stage was outdoors, and the heat felt like we were dancing in a sauna.
In contrast, the dressing rooms were intensely cold5, like a freezer, and going back and forth between the sauna and the freezer was ruining our physical health.
The finishing blow was on the morning of our departure for Thailand when the three of us who later collapsed had woken up early and gone swimming in the hotel pool.
I suppose you could say that only ending up with food poisoning at the end of all of this was a blessing? (Around this time in Japan, it seems there was a rumor circulating that the three of us had died of cholera. This particularly taught me how scary rumors can be.)
In any case, the members who collapsed were my senior by one year and later top star Taira Michi-san6, Taira-san's classmate who had a principle role in all of the dances, Seri Machika-san7, and myself. The central members had all collapsed at the same time, which without a doubt caused a lot of trouble for everyone around us.
Even thinking back on it now I feel guilty and my thoughtless instinct is to kneel down on the ground.
At the hotel the perverted foreign doctor said, "Oh! Beautiful hips!" as he gave me two shots in the rear, and though I narrowly escaped death we couldn't leave a blank place on the stage.
I don't have to tell you that after that our conduct was much more responsible.
In any case, there weren't any shopping centers or discos in Thailand or Burma......
It brought home to me that I couldn't rely too heavily on my youth.
(1) This tour was the Second Southeast Asian Tour, December 1982.
(2) nibante, literally "second hand". Nibante is the unofficial† label for second-ranked otokoyaku star.
(3) For a refresher on the maiko story, check out chapter 18.
(4) nihonmono, literally "Japanese thing." Used as a label for all historical Japanese plays and revues.
(5) I wonder about her "intensely cold," because I think as a whole Japan tends to run their air conditioners very low. I still remember the first time I arrived in Japan and I thought I was going to die, the airport was so hot and muggy.
(6) Taira Michi was top star of Snow Troupe from 1985 to 1988.
(7) Seri Machika was in Moon Troupe from 1974 to 1985. She then went on to become a choreographer for the Revue in the 90s and 00s.
† I'm not certain within the ranks of the company, but I know it isn't used in their official press releases. I think? Correct me if I'm wrong here, please. I remember hearing at one time that the term "top star" wasn't official either at one point, but they seem to have adopted it over the past decade.
[ Dream of Takarazuka table of contents ]
And again Ōura-san set out on a foreign performance1.
I had spent time frivolously on Grand Theater, Tokyo Theater, and Bow Hall performances, and within limitations you could see the evidence of my growth, I suppose, because this time wh-wh-what!? I was sent out as nibante2.
Previously, on the Central American Tour, I had become a thorough fan of national tours, so I participated in high spirits.
This time I was no underling. And more importantly, I would not be expected to perform the dreaded maiko3, so I was happy.
*
Incidentally, my mother had seen my trial performance of a nihonmono4 at Bow Hall, and told me the tears had flowed.
"That maiko you did was now a young man," seems to have been the only impression it left her with.
But I suspected that behind those words was more than a parent's joy at a child's growth, but also a hidden dislike of my performance as a maiko. Ah, poor me.
On no account, not even as a lead role, will I ever play a maiko! I swore in my heart.
We were scheduled for a one-month tour through the four countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Burma (modern day Myanmar), so it was a performance a bit like a forced march, but leave it to youth to perform, play, and travel about with great enjoyment, and it was done.
Excluding the terrifying food poisoning incident....
For nearly all of the performers on this tour, there was one incident or another.
The Incident of Gecko Terror, the Incident of Not Being Able to Eat Rice, the Incident of Dropping Down the Drain, and so forth. If I wrote them all down I doubt they'd ever end, so I'll omit them, but to be truthful they were all small incidents.
But the Southeast Asia Tour's greatest incident was the Food Poisoning Incident.
To preserve it for far future generations, this incident alone I will share with you all.
27 ~*~ The Terrifying Food Poisoning Incident
The place was our third country, in a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. The cause, the meals we had eaten that day, and the day before, in Singapore. (Because that day had been organized for everyone, the entire troupe had eaten the same meal. However, only three people manifested food poisoning, or so I sleuthed out.)
Singapore was the most metropolitan of the countries we visited.
Name brand shopping centers were all lined up, and discos, and lots of places for leisure.
How on earth were we expected to stay put?
I was receiving a bit of star treatment, but in spite of being busy with early morning press interviews and courtesy calls, I ran around shopping during the lunch break, performed at night, and without acknowledging being tired we were out all night dancing at the discos.
On top of everything else, the Singapore stage was outdoors, and the heat felt like we were dancing in a sauna.
In contrast, the dressing rooms were intensely cold5, like a freezer, and going back and forth between the sauna and the freezer was ruining our physical health.
The finishing blow was on the morning of our departure for Thailand when the three of us who later collapsed had woken up early and gone swimming in the hotel pool.
I suppose you could say that only ending up with food poisoning at the end of all of this was a blessing? (Around this time in Japan, it seems there was a rumor circulating that the three of us had died of cholera. This particularly taught me how scary rumors can be.)
In any case, the members who collapsed were my senior by one year and later top star Taira Michi-san6, Taira-san's classmate who had a principle role in all of the dances, Seri Machika-san7, and myself. The central members had all collapsed at the same time, which without a doubt caused a lot of trouble for everyone around us.
Even thinking back on it now I feel guilty and my thoughtless instinct is to kneel down on the ground.
At the hotel the perverted foreign doctor said, "Oh! Beautiful hips!" as he gave me two shots in the rear, and though I narrowly escaped death we couldn't leave a blank place on the stage.
I don't have to tell you that after that our conduct was much more responsible.
In any case, there weren't any shopping centers or discos in Thailand or Burma......
It brought home to me that I couldn't rely too heavily on my youth.
(1) This tour was the Second Southeast Asian Tour, December 1982.
(2) nibante, literally "second hand". Nibante is the unofficial† label for second-ranked otokoyaku star.
(3) For a refresher on the maiko story, check out chapter 18.
(4) nihonmono, literally "Japanese thing." Used as a label for all historical Japanese plays and revues.
(5) I wonder about her "intensely cold," because I think as a whole Japan tends to run their air conditioners very low. I still remember the first time I arrived in Japan and I thought I was going to die, the airport was so hot and muggy.
(6) Taira Michi was top star of Snow Troupe from 1985 to 1988.
(7) Seri Machika was in Moon Troupe from 1974 to 1985. She then went on to become a choreographer for the Revue in the 90s and 00s.
† I'm not certain within the ranks of the company, but I know it isn't used in their official press releases. I think? Correct me if I'm wrong here, please. I remember hearing at one time that the term "top star" wasn't official either at one point, but they seem to have adopted it over the past decade.
[ Dream of Takarazuka table of contents ]
no subject
Date: 2014-02-21 04:22 am (UTC)I had to laugh about her getting her shot.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-22 01:39 am (UTC)I laughed and cringed a bit about the shot and the pervert foreign doctor. XD
no subject
Date: 2014-02-21 05:08 pm (UTC)I'm sorry that my first time comment is so random ^^; I've been quietly reading your blog for some time and I couldn't help it. Thank you for translating this! This series has been a very entertaining read XD
no subject
Date: 2014-02-22 01:45 am (UTC)Never apologize for comments! I always love to get them. :3
no subject
Date: 2014-02-24 08:09 am (UTC)Nothing worse than being sick outside your own bed T____T
But the perverted foreign doctor is priceless XDDD