岩手県立岩泉高等学校郷土芸能同好会

郷土芸能同好会は、平成2年に発足し、以来全国大会9回、国立劇場3回、パリ公演と数々の実績を重ね現在に至っています。多くのメンバーはクラブに所属しながら、それとは別に中野七頭舞の伝承を志す有志の集まりです。クラブ活動の最盛期には両立が大変ですが、故郷に伝わる魅力ある舞を多くの方々に広め、後輩へ継承することは大切な役割であると感じています。
中野七頭舞は「天保の七年飢渇」が起きた頃に宮古市に伝わる黒森神楽の「シットギジシ舞」を基本として創作されたと伝えられており、踊り手は七つの役割に分かれ、舞も七種類あることから七頭舞の由来となっています。原野を開墾し、作物を植え、害獣から守り、収穫を分かち合う農民の日々の営みをとおして五穀豊穣を願いながら演じます。

Since its establishment in 1990, the club has performed at nine national competitions, three times at the National Theatre of Japan, and once in Paris. Many of the members not only belong to the club, but they are also a group of volunteers who aspire to pass on the Nakano Nanazumai dance. Although it is difficult to balance their activities during the peak season, they feel the need in spreading the local folk dance to as many people as possible, and to pass it on to younger generations.
It is said that the Nakano Nanazumai was created around the time of the “Seven Years of Famine” in the Tempo era based on the “Shittogi-jishi-mai” of the Kuromori Kagura from Miyako City. With the dancers divided into seven roles, and seven different dances comprise the whole, it is said that this is where Nanazumai (literally, seven dances) got its name. The dancers play the role of farmers who cultivate the fields, plant crops, protect them from vermin, and share the harvest, all in the hope of a bountiful gathering.