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OKEIKO 30
It is not uncommon to beat time with hands (‘tebyōshi’) or feet (‘ashibyōshi’) in dance. Clapping and stomping to the beat occur naturally to rhythmical music; we might clap our hands to accentuate a movement or beat out the rhythm with the sound of our feet. Dance is inseparable from ‘ashibyōshi’ and ‘tebyōshi’. However, the clapping or stomping in Nihonbuyo seems to be a little different from other dances. They do not occur spontaneously, the clapping and stomping itself is the dance. Stomping in Nihonbuyo looks like the dancer is jumping or stamping freely while having fun, but the frequency of and the intervals during the stamping are all determined by the choreography of each piece.
(Mitsuko T. Sakurai)