For people new to or unfamiliar with the world of traditional performing arts, this event featured a range of modifications to make it easier to understand and more enjoyable to watch.With a different concept to the previous event “The 3rd Souten performance,” the program featured a workshop and new dance piece “The King with Donkey Ears” followed by a break and then two commentary-accompanied classical works, “Shinkyoku-urashima” and　“Yoshiwarasuzume.”
After the opening greetings and remarks had ended, the workshop got underway. Conventional Hogaku (Japanese traditional music) workshops carefully explain everything from how the instruments are made to getting participants to listen to the sounds. This event however drastically shortened the introduction to the instruments and went onto the well-known Aesop’s fable “The Honest Woodman” using Hogaku instruments to demonstrate the story. Rather than focus on individual instruments, organizers emphasized helping participants to grasp the rules of Hogaku and the overall concept.
The next component, the new dance piece “The King with Donkey Ears” looked at the possibilities for combining Hogaku instruments and Nihon Buyo dance by incorporating colloquial lyrics, musical composition and lighting, and distinctive costumes etc., while taking into account the preceding workshop.
In the latter half of the event, the classical work “Shinkyoku-urashima” and the Buyo dance piece “Yoshiwarasuzume” began with commentary to convey performance highlights in advance. These performances allowed the audience to see the daily training regime and passion for the classics exhibited by the young Hogaku and Nihon buyo dance performers.