Red Hat Dancer and Japanese Home

Japanese dancer with red hats at Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Festival. This kabuki drama, "The maiden at Dojoji temple," is based on a very dramatic legend. A young girl falls in love with a priest, but he resists her charms and hides under a bell; she, however, is so enraged that she turns into a demonic serpent whose breath melts the bell and burns up her lover. As the play opens, some years have passed, and the temple has a new bell. A young girl comes to the temple and the priests agree to let her dance in honor of the bell. As she whirls in a dance with hats, they become scales and she reveals herself as the demonic serpent-woman!  (Kanzashi are hair ornaments used in traditional Japanese hairstyles.)