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An Art of Unique Design
The most notable feature of kabuki is the elaborate face makeup known as kumadori. These beautiful and intricate designs help to display the traits of each important character. Each color holds a significant meaning to the personality of each character. This allows the audiences to quickly get to know each character and begin establishing how they might react to certain events and interact with others. Below is a list of a few commonly used colors and what they might say about a character.
(Kabuki Official Website)
- Red: Youth, justice, anger, or strength. This color is the most commonly utilized and often appears in dramatic straight lines that accentuate the facial movements and features of the actor.
- Blue/Indigo: A villain or evil spirit.
- Brown: A supernatural character such as a demon.
(Kabuki Official Website)
Of equal importance to kabuki are the costumes. Like kumadori, the costumes worn by actors portray the traits of the character they are portraying. A costume may reflect the military status of a character, their role in a high ranking household, or even their wealth. Typically the more important the character, the more elaborate and dazzling the costume is.
These beautiful costumes and their wigs combined can weigh upwards of over 100 pounds (Kabuki Official Website). As a result, part of the training for many actors is to learn how to maintain mobility while wearing the costume in addition to how one can utilize the costume in a fashion which exaggerates their character's persona. |
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Photo used under Creative Commons from Dumphasizer