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 The kabuki performance presented by Heisei Nakamura-za
company was the most lavish component of Lincoln
Center Festival 2004. The company offered a
total of fifteen performances at an authentic
kabuki theater temporary erected at Lincoln
Center's Damrosch Park from July 17th through
July 25th. The impressively re-created kabuki
tent designed in the image of Edo-period Japan
immediately drew many people's attention days
before the performance began, as it was
constructed at Lincoln Center, the sanctuary of
culture and performing arts.
The company's production "Natsumatsuri Naniwa Kagami"
was a condensed version of a daylong original,
but still lasted more than three hours. The
performance combined both traditional kabuki
forms and innovative forms of acting and
captivated more than 500 audiences in each of
the performances. At the final curtain call,
standing ovation and huge applauses were
rewarded to the leading actor Mr. Kankuro
Nakamura and his troupe for their exhilarating
performances, and even the hard-to-please New
Yorkers who are regularly exposed to high
quality performing arts seemed mesmerized by the
Japanese actors.
The company's performance was widely reported by local
media sources, which includes The New York Times
July 20th article that said, "The Heisei
Nakamura-za company's "Summer-Festival: A Mirror
of Osaka" ("Natsumatsuri Naniwa Kagami") turns
out to provide thrills that "Spider-Man 2"can't
deliver". In its July 21st article, The Wall
Street Journal wrote: "Mr. Nakamura's faith in
his art's bedrock and his daring sense of
presenting a three-century-old narrative with an
eye on contemporary tastes yields a rich and
entertaining event".
This year marks the 150th anniversary of U.S.-Japan
relations since the two countries signed the
Treaty of Peace and Amity in 1854. Currently,
many exchanges are taking place between the two
countries. We sincerely hope that the U.S. and
Japan will continue to enhance the mutual
understanding between the American and Japanese
peoples through these cultural exchanges for
many years to come.
  
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