Dancin' Crazy - not!review
Jul. 25th, 2010 10:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yukinojouGetting Dancin' Crazy eventually was a foregone conclusion the moment I learned of it back in 2007 - over half of Takarazuka's most noted modern dancers in one show, sign me up! I've finally obtained it, and this is a collection of disjointed exclamations. The display of talent dazzles far too much for me to be coherent.
It's Takarazuka dancing, period, stripped of the ostrich feathers and sequins, nothing but the art. The most elaborate costumes are for a single Arabesque number, and apart from that, nothing fancier than tailcoats.
Summary of not!Review: NATSUME-SAN. Komu ♥ Kazahana Mai O.o BwahahaRika <3 Hoshina!! Wataru :) Black Angels! <- random order. Except Natsume-san. Because this is a show with a dream OG dancing troupe, of which Natsume-san is the beloved top star.
Opening number - let me just say that when you have Komu, Wataru and Rika onstage, and you barely notice them, that means that the fourth person is good. I'd only seen Ooura Mizuki in clips before, but her charisma is a siege weapon. That dancing and that voice! She was an absolute marvel.
Asami Hikaru and Kazahana Mai's barefoot duet - "Takarazuka does ballet" is a failsafe way to kill me, and this managed it in spades, perfectly marrying emotion and technical flourishes. Tears in my eyes, and a resolution to look up Kazahana Mai's shows. While Komu is in otokoyaku mode, it's also a non-Takarazuka choreography in that Mai is the one leading the dance.
(Also, one or both of them are lying about her height - the one who's suppsedly 167 cm is at least three centimetres shorter than the one who's supposedly 164 cm.)
Accordion sequence - Kozuki Wataru and Hoshina Yuri, having fun. Yes, it's (among other things) a tango with very risque poses, but the main note I got was how happy they were dancing with each other. Which made the end sequence all the more poignant, getting lost in a dangerous crowd.
Rika in pinstripes - poor Shibuki Jun can't catch a break here ;) Perfect choreography for her, modern and showcasing her best quality, the fact that you can see the passion boiling just under the surface. She's a tempest, this one, and it shows perfectly. (Also, AYAKO! I have a tendre for the original Black Angels, and here's one of them showing off perfect moves.)
A day in the life - I already mentioned how brilliant Ooura Mizuki was :) Natsume-san had such warmth combined with a no-nonsense attitude, and that voice - I could listen to it for hours. (Now that's a Taka-an idea, especially since she recorded a tango CD.) She showcases so many sides here, but the one that struck me most is the playful one, in the duet with Komu. (Komu in heels = most hilarious.)
It don't mean a thing - Natsume-san's second-act sequence is more in otokoyaku mode, and just as stunning. Added to by Rika's antics, because Rika is a goofball of the highest order.
And then a Natsume-san dance with Hoshina Yuri and Kaede Saki singing. (Sorry, my Black Angel bias is showing.) It's so warm, with Natsume-san as the charming older man who can't quite believe he's dancing with such a beauty.
Then Komu and Wataru stomp in, everyone else disappears and it's two (very affectionate) young upstarts luring the old man into dancing with them, only each time he starts, they go off on crazy stunts and The Music Is Making His Head Hurt. It starts off funny, but goes bittersweet, and when have you seen Takarazuka touch on the subject of a dancer's age? The final song of the sequence is The Party's Over, and knowing that Natsume-san had only two years to live... If she knew, this show is the most wonderful show to go out on.
The Komu song got muted for copyright reasons. Drat. But after that, there's another Komu number with bonus musumeyaku and um. A very, very squeaky voice. Since I've heard her Elisabeth on bootlegs, I know she's found her true soprano since then :)
Another barefoot number comes from Wataru. Ballet again, with ensemble background, and it's very Wataru - powerful and technically perfect.
Carpetbaggers - Rika being very, very Rika. I haven't seen Jazzmania, but in an interview Rika described a very similar dance, in rolled-up shirtsleeves, tie loosened. Very her.
Arabian Nights - another song cut for copyright reasons, but this works much better for dance scenes ;) I loved the passion in this one.
Carousel horse - Komu being cool. No other words for it <3 Followed by a number I can't name, but it had Kazahana Mai and a lot of ex-otokoyaku with ponytails. Then Wataru being cool, because apparently it's a triptych of otokoyaku in shirtsleeves and loose ties.
Jalousie - OH. Natsume-san and Komu, in tailcoats, tango-ing. With each other. They work. Far. Too. Well. <- this would be the number that killed me
Showtime - chair dancing and ensemble being awesome. Which it was, because there was not one member who wasn't a fantastic dancer.
The world goes round - NATSUME. I am so getting a CD of hers.
Coattails dance - no, it's not an otokoyaku dance. Even if Hoshina Yuri looks very otokorashii in hers <3 A very long sequence with everyone getting stagetime and attention, and the quintessence of a coat-tails dance. Which makes for a very fitting end sequence to the show.
If I ever end up getting an iPod-analogue, I need those Natsume-san x Komu duets on it. And in a perverse way I'm glad I hadn't seen it before November - I would have taken it badly. This way, Natsume-san joins the long list of people I found too late ♥
It's Takarazuka dancing, period, stripped of the ostrich feathers and sequins, nothing but the art. The most elaborate costumes are for a single Arabesque number, and apart from that, nothing fancier than tailcoats.
Summary of not!Review: NATSUME-SAN. Komu ♥ Kazahana Mai O.o BwahahaRika <3 Hoshina!! Wataru :) Black Angels! <- random order. Except Natsume-san. Because this is a show with a dream OG dancing troupe, of which Natsume-san is the beloved top star.
Opening number - let me just say that when you have Komu, Wataru and Rika onstage, and you barely notice them, that means that the fourth person is good. I'd only seen Ooura Mizuki in clips before, but her charisma is a siege weapon. That dancing and that voice! She was an absolute marvel.
Asami Hikaru and Kazahana Mai's barefoot duet - "Takarazuka does ballet" is a failsafe way to kill me, and this managed it in spades, perfectly marrying emotion and technical flourishes. Tears in my eyes, and a resolution to look up Kazahana Mai's shows. While Komu is in otokoyaku mode, it's also a non-Takarazuka choreography in that Mai is the one leading the dance.
(Also, one or both of them are lying about her height - the one who's suppsedly 167 cm is at least three centimetres shorter than the one who's supposedly 164 cm.)
Accordion sequence - Kozuki Wataru and Hoshina Yuri, having fun. Yes, it's (among other things) a tango with very risque poses, but the main note I got was how happy they were dancing with each other. Which made the end sequence all the more poignant, getting lost in a dangerous crowd.
Rika in pinstripes - poor Shibuki Jun can't catch a break here ;) Perfect choreography for her, modern and showcasing her best quality, the fact that you can see the passion boiling just under the surface. She's a tempest, this one, and it shows perfectly. (Also, AYAKO! I have a tendre for the original Black Angels, and here's one of them showing off perfect moves.)
A day in the life - I already mentioned how brilliant Ooura Mizuki was :) Natsume-san had such warmth combined with a no-nonsense attitude, and that voice - I could listen to it for hours. (Now that's a Taka-an idea, especially since she recorded a tango CD.) She showcases so many sides here, but the one that struck me most is the playful one, in the duet with Komu. (Komu in heels = most hilarious.)
It don't mean a thing - Natsume-san's second-act sequence is more in otokoyaku mode, and just as stunning. Added to by Rika's antics, because Rika is a goofball of the highest order.
And then a Natsume-san dance with Hoshina Yuri and Kaede Saki singing. (Sorry, my Black Angel bias is showing.) It's so warm, with Natsume-san as the charming older man who can't quite believe he's dancing with such a beauty.
Then Komu and Wataru stomp in, everyone else disappears and it's two (very affectionate) young upstarts luring the old man into dancing with them, only each time he starts, they go off on crazy stunts and The Music Is Making His Head Hurt. It starts off funny, but goes bittersweet, and when have you seen Takarazuka touch on the subject of a dancer's age? The final song of the sequence is The Party's Over, and knowing that Natsume-san had only two years to live... If she knew, this show is the most wonderful show to go out on.
The Komu song got muted for copyright reasons. Drat. But after that, there's another Komu number with bonus musumeyaku and um. A very, very squeaky voice. Since I've heard her Elisabeth on bootlegs, I know she's found her true soprano since then :)
Another barefoot number comes from Wataru. Ballet again, with ensemble background, and it's very Wataru - powerful and technically perfect.
Carpetbaggers - Rika being very, very Rika. I haven't seen Jazzmania, but in an interview Rika described a very similar dance, in rolled-up shirtsleeves, tie loosened. Very her.
Arabian Nights - another song cut for copyright reasons, but this works much better for dance scenes ;) I loved the passion in this one.
Carousel horse - Komu being cool. No other words for it <3 Followed by a number I can't name, but it had Kazahana Mai and a lot of ex-otokoyaku with ponytails. Then Wataru being cool, because apparently it's a triptych of otokoyaku in shirtsleeves and loose ties.
Jalousie - OH. Natsume-san and Komu, in tailcoats, tango-ing. With each other. They work. Far. Too. Well. <- this would be the number that killed me
Showtime - chair dancing and ensemble being awesome. Which it was, because there was not one member who wasn't a fantastic dancer.
The world goes round - NATSUME. I am so getting a CD of hers.
Coattails dance - no, it's not an otokoyaku dance. Even if Hoshina Yuri looks very otokorashii in hers <3 A very long sequence with everyone getting stagetime and attention, and the quintessence of a coat-tails dance. Which makes for a very fitting end sequence to the show.
If I ever end up getting an iPod-analogue, I need those Natsume-san x Komu duets on it. And in a perverse way I'm glad I hadn't seen it before November - I would have taken it badly. This way, Natsume-san joins the long list of people I found too late ♥
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-27 04:46 pm (UTC)Seriously, I use to think dance was boring. Thank you Takarazuka for opening my eyes!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-27 04:59 pm (UTC)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zulRKo4T8k - opening
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzJj0GgcFZ4 - ballet duet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFShuoxnISw - post-accordion tango
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItlA79RV278 - NATSUME-SAN
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-28 03:53 am (UTC)*snort* You know you're a Zuka fan when...
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-28 04:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-25 03:17 am (UTC)Mostly due to the OGs (NATSUME ♥).
Now you need to see is "Berubara '90". Lots of Natsume there :)