Summary - Performing Arts And Theater In Japan PDF

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Performing Arts and Theater in Japan...

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Performing Arts and Theater in Japan – Noh- integrates song, dance, and masked theater – Bunraku- puppet theater – Kabuki- emphasizes dance and music – theater emerged when Japan was agriculturally dominant, always had festivals and dances to pray for good harvests, celebrated with rounds of song and dance when there was a good harvest – actors and dances perfect the form of Japanese theater – nature is a strong element in Japanese theater, conveys transient nature of human life – Noh is the oldest form of Japanese theater – 600 years ago – old pine trees are regarded as spiritual places – Noh stage constructed w/ 4 panels and a roof – nothing is allowed to separate audience from stage, actors enter from long bridge path – music is chanters and 4 instruments – referred to as the art of walking, minimized expression of the energy the actor hides behind the mask – thick costume creates a profile that minimizes the physical presence of actor – masks portray expression, so does movement, implies spirit – refined over the course of several centuries – 56 generations of Noh theater, all 10,000 students of Noh theater are part of artistic family – old woman tells hermits not to look inside closet, one of them does and he finds dead corpses, the old woman is actually a spirit, the goodness of the hermits forces her to leave and vanish into the night – Bunraku – dates back to the 17th century – each puppet is moved by 3 people, puppets made from bamboo and gourd and other things – legs and arms attached with strings – movements modified in order to be lifelike – least experienced member gets feet, other member gets the left hand, master puppeteer get head and right hand, takes 10 years to master – singers tell the story and recites the lines of characters, samisen is played – performers sing from their stomachs, supports stomach with a weight-laden sash – clear expression of narrative is very important, clear pronunciation is very important – Sawaichi, in order to support household wife Osato works part time, Sawaichi lost eyesight due to chickenpox and doesn’t like it when wife leaves the house so he berates her constantly, Osato actually loves him dearly but Sawaichi fears that there is another man that Osato loves, Osato says that she loves him dearly, overcome their misunderstanding and go to pray to the Goddess of Mercy, Sawaichi feels sad that he doubted the love of his wife, Sawaichi thinks that his wife would be better off w/o him so he sends his wife home on an errand and commits suicide by jumping off a cliff, Osato hurries back and discovers Sawaichi’s cane and knows what happens and starts to grieve loudly, Osato also flings herself into the ravine, Goddess of Mercy brings them back to life for their faith and restores Sawaichi’s vision so he can see Osato for the first time – Kabuki – flamboyant costumes, makeup, acrobatics, emotional arousal, appeals to common people – causes tears and laughter of audience – passageway that runs through audience, draws audience into the drama – Scarlet makeup identifies hero and indigo makeup identifies villain – strike dramatic poses with enthusiastic shouts and loud music – male actors specialize in female roles, government prohibition wouldn’t allow women to perform on stage so man had to perfect woman performance skills – man captivated by music of drum played by beautiful woman, man is actually a fox who changed to human form, drum is made by the skin of mother and father so the man can hear the voices of his parents, man’s true form is revealed and he is driven to grief because his parents are dead, fox keeps popping out of trap doors, fox wants the drum and he eventually gets the drum and clutches it and flies away – lunch can be enjoyed at one’s seat during the intermission – kabuki made political statements through fairy tales, due to strong government regulations, Kabuki reached the height of prominence

– dynamic kabuki stage has lots of mechanical devices to raise actors, all devices operated manually – rich reflection of Japanese culture – Japan island, beneficiary of other cultures, all Japanese theater can be influenced by other cultures, complex culture of native roots and other countries – Theater in Japan – Japanese culture continues to redefine itself, older people understand the traditional culture better – even if you change the language the meaning is still the same – Tokyo is considered a distorted city, information tech is speeding up esp. in Tokyo, life is so much faster and preserving culture is harder – hard to find stability, impervious to change tradition – Toshima Takigi Noh – preservation of tradition is the spine of Japanese culture and life, 400 year tradition – rituals have been preserved for many years – futility of contemporary existence is one message that is invoked in theater – slow, artistic movements – Saburo Teshigawara – modern obsession with change is also shown in theater – esoteric movements and pyrotechnics – doesn’t focus so much on the use of the legs – opera singing – choreography is an important element – Suzuki Company of Toga – Tadashi Suzuki is a huge theater person, large reputation allows him to buy his way out of the capital – finest theater arts involve stylizing of movement with the legs, and other gestures involve the use of the torso, hands, and face – use of animal energy within us has gradually diminished…we replace it with non-animal energy and we live longer – energy within us and ability to communicate and express ourselves has been weakened in modern day society – uses foreign texts like Shakespeare and Euripides, feels like he is using the culture of the entire human race – adapts Western classics – The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekov is being performed in Japanese – Dai San Erotica – pay homage to various creators and famous people – perform tactics in public, try to shoot things with pyrotechnics with the goal to just hit something in general – rituals in Japanese community result in public participation, Ex. kukagawa – most public daily performance – Goro Namerikawa – temple ritual where you chant and wear white paint and a fundoshi – artists go back to primitive roots…rituals suggest a bleak depiction of the future – Buto dance – Ennousuke Kabuki Theater – 300 years of reproducing and improving the same performances – prostitutes used to perform it until women were banned from the stage, so now all performers are men – Yume no Yuminsha – Tokyo’s most popular contemporary theater group aimed towards young people – mostly novelty productions, so anything can go, lots of American elements – Poet Ben Shozu – beat generation of noise poetry – used to vent stress – Diametsubo is destruction of the body, need to feel the natural state of the body instead of inhibition, evil thoughts, and meaningless knowledge

– fundamental philosophical story with thought provoking analysis – beating method for health – actors do breathing exercises – dream-like state of Tokyo at night, some analyze progress of Japan by performance – dancing on glass and breaking it during a theater performance, puts it in his mouth –...