Kuse

総合

In noh, kuse is a shodan.

Core section of a play, often dedicated to the narration of events crucial to the story, or to the narration of past events that can illustrate the facts developing in the play. It can occur in the first or in the second half of the play following the conventional kuri-sashi-kuse sequence. It is often followed by an instrumental dance. Kuse focuses on the shite, who normally dances. In some cases (i.e. Takasago, Kokaji) the shite does not dance, but sits in the middle of the stage throughout the duration of the kuse, while the chorus sings (iguse).

Kuse is sung either in yowagin or tsuyogin modes, following hiranori rhythm. The chorus sings most of the chant with one or two single lines in the middle sung by the shite called ageha. In congruent rhythm, moving through various registers.