Kusemai

• Japanese: 曲舞 (kusemai)

Kusemai was a medieval Japanese art-form believed to consist chiefly of dance (mai) accompanied by narrative chanting (kuse) in the third-person.

Though originally a separate performance art, kusemai was incorporated by Kan'ami in the late 14th century into Yamato sarugaku, the art form which would later develop into Noh theatre. In doing so, Kan'ami not only introduced specific stylistic elements of chant and dance from kusemai into sarugaku, but also set the stage for the development of more extended narratives in sarugaku, which had previously focused on simpler plot set-ups and dances.

References

• Shelley Fenno Quinn, Developing Zeami, University of Hawaii Press (2005), 133-134.