The purpose of this research was to verify the mechanical rationality of the existence and the efficacy of “Core and Axis”, which had been said to be understood by Kabuki Buyo performers introspectively. First, focusing on diversity of humans’ movement and their high adaptivity to the environment, we expressed human body as a continuum model. Additionally, by defining “Core” as a high viscoelasticity area in the model, and also “Axis” as a straight line involved in “Core”，it became possible to verify “Core and Axis” by using general theory in mechanics. Next, the interview toward six Kabuki Buyo performers among four styles, including Living National Treasure, was held. The analysis of the results indicated the validity of movement evaluation, which was done by linking the state of body called “Body for Kata”, and the state of body in which “Core and Axis” was formed. Finally, the model representing “Body for Kata” based on the conception of “Core and Axis” was presented, and then “Hakobi” and “waving the Sensu” movements were interpreted in terms of mechanics by using the model. From this interpretation, it was validly indicated that by forming “Core and Axis” in their body correctly, it became possible to “removing excessive stress” in both movements. As a result, proposing one of the bases which suggests the existence of “Core and Axis” formed among several styles in Kabuki Buyo was succeeded.

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The purpose of this study is to focus on articles about ballet and female ballet dancers published in French mode magazines for women in the nineteenth century, and to clarify how ballet was presented and represented to female readers.

The reality of ballet in the nineteenth century, also known as Romantic ballet, was that ballet was mainly targeted towards male audience. Although women were also part of the audience for ballet, the representation of ballet or the ballet dancer for women is unknown. In this study, I analyzed ballet articles published in newspapers and magazines and examined ballet representations and female dancers unique to the women’s fashion magazine, “La Sylphide”.

My findings were that the representation of ballet throughout the nineteenth century was inconsistent in La Sylphide. In the 1840s, the evaluation of female ballet dancers tended to focus on the grace rather than the technique, and female ballet dancers are considered to be the norms of beauty, and they become the ideal image of a woman for female readers. In the late nineteenth century, while the number of ballet articles was decreasing, the female ballet dancer was presented as more humane and realistic, and it was believed that the female dancer’s image that had previously been considered as the ideal image of a woman had been broken down.

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The aim of this study is to propose a new framework for appreciation of Ryūkyūan dance rooted in musical analysis. The temporal order of Ryūkyūan dance is seen in terms of ‘going’ and ‘returning’, this binary opposition then being conceived abstractly in terms of the contrast between tension and relaxation.

I begin by analysing Kajadifū-bushi, one of the most well-known items in the repertoire, on the assumption that it reveals the basic structure of Ryūkyūan dance. I make a division into ‘going’ and ‘returning’ on either side of ‘standing’, which I see as occurring at the break between phrases. These two motions are in temporal equilibrium, coincide with line breaks in ryūka song texts, and are almost congruent with musical phrase structure.

In the case of women’s dances, ‘standing’ is ambiguous: the borderline between ‘going’ and ‘returning’ is delayed and the dancer tends to face forward although the song text and the music have already entered the ‘returning’ zone. Expression in the highly lyrical genre of women’s dances is complex, with units of movement tending to lag behind text and music. This delay can be seen as a form of artistic expression that departs from the general principle, such a departure being an inevitable development in all art forms. Examining the artistic reasons for this is likely to further illuminate the theory of performance and dance expression.

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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the meaning of daidogei, a popular art form that has existed since the Nara period, has changed in Japanese society from the postwar period to the present. I divided the 75-year period from 1945 to 2020 into four periods: stagnant, revival, development and prosperity. For each period, art forms recognized as daidogei in Japanese society were comprehensively analyzed in terms of the laws and policies enforced and the characteristics and content of daidogei events held in Japan.

The results show that daidogei is changing from a “fluid art form” to a “planned art form” due to social conditions. The planning method was also found to be changing from being part of an event to a large-scale event for community revitalization, and then to a performance that requires a license granted on a 10- to 20-year basis.

In addition, the techniques performed in these events have shifted from oral presentations and selling of goods that were popular in the Edo period to more Western-derived techniques, and the events have come to incorporate European cultural and artistic ideas. Furthermore, daidogei has come to be appreciated in situations other than entertainment, such as medical care and disaster recovery support.

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