Contemporary Sagi Kyōgen: Liminal Spaces & Conceptualizing Tradition Outside Kyōgen's Professional World

Abstract

Today’s practice of the traditional performing art, Sagi kyōgen, is no longer a part of the professional kyōgen world. It remains, however, as a regional art form with a history of performance traditions in Yamaguchi City (Yamaguchi Prefecture), Kanzaki City (Saga Prefecture) and on Sado Island (Niigata Prefecture). As such, the typical criteria by which professional kyōgen claims itself as a culturally significant tradition do not entirely apply to contemporary Sagi kyōgen. So how then does Sagi kyōgen create a sense of value as a tradition? Drawing on his 2022 dissertation, Dr. Alex Rogals will present the ways in which todayʻs Sagi kyōgen performers have centralized locale as a primary means for determining legitimacy, authenticity, and value in contemporary practice.