page_title: Buyō
hierarchical_section_title: Buyō
caption_attribution_description: English: A geiko (Kyoto geisha) named Mamechika dances in Gion, Kyoto. Camera: Phase One P 45+ License on Flickr (2010-12-30): CC-BY-2.0 Flickr tags: geisha, Gion, Mamechika, places:locality=ilArHGKYBJycAI9KsQ
context_page_description: Buyō, or Nichibu short for Nihon buyō/Nippon buyō meaning Japanese dance, refers to a classical Japanese performing art that may be a dance sometimes mixed with pantomime. It begins with early dance traditions such as mai and odori, with major development in the early Edo period in the form of kabuki dances, which incorporated elements from the older dance genres. Although the term Nihon buyō means "Japanese dance", it is not meant to refer to Japanese dance in general, rather it refers to a few dance genres such as kabuki buyō performed in theatre, Kamigata mai that encompasses the style of dancing performed by geisha, as well as some Japanese dances with modern choreography. Nihon buyō differs from other Japanese traditional dances in that it is a more refined style of dancing intended as entertainment on a public stage.
  The term buyō is a modern coinage during the Meiji period as a term for "dance", and the writer Tsubouchi Shōyō is believed to be the first to use the term Nihon buyō. Prior to this, dance was generally referred according to its particular dance genre, such as mai and odori. The term is a combination of mai and odori.
context_section_description: Buyō (舞踊), or Nichibu (日舞) short for Nihon buyō/Nippon buyō (日本舞踊) meaning Japanese dance, refers to a classical Japanese performing art that may be a dance sometimes mixed with pantomime. It begins with early dance traditions such as mai and odori, with major development in the early Edo period (early 17th century) in the form of kabuki dances, which incorporated elements from the older dance genres. Although the term Nihon buyō means "Japanese dance", it is not meant to refer to Japanese dance in general, rather it refers to a few dance genres such as kabuki buyō performed in theatre, Kamigata mai that encompasses the style of dancing performed by geisha, as well as some Japanese dances with modern choreography. Nihon buyō differs from other Japanese traditional dances in that it is a more refined style of dancing intended as entertainment on a public stage.
  The term buyō is a modern coinage during the Meiji period as a term for "dance", and the writer Tsubouchi Shōyō is believed to be the first to use the term Nihon buyō. Prior to this, dance was generally referred according to its particular dance genre, such as mai and odori. The term is a combination of  mai (舞, which can also be pronounced bu) and odori (踊, can also be pronounced yō). Shōyō intended Nihon buyō to be a term for Furigoto Geki (振事劇), a form of dance drama in Kabuki plays, but it has now become a term that covers several Japanese dance styles, including the modern dance form Sosaku Buyō. As a genre of dance that has multiple influences and borrowings from many different dance traditions that developed over a long period, one that overlaps with theatre and has many different schools, there is some difficulty in defining and categorizing Nihon buyō.
caption: A geisha in Kyoto performing a buyō dance
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