We have 3 days of orientation workshops that are open to others who don't wish to do the full 3 weeks of training. After a brief history of Traditional Theatre Training we met the Noh masters who will be my teachers during the training session. Master Katayama is the nephew of the head of the Kanze School of Noh, a National Living Treasure. It's like taking a class from a prince! Master Tamoi gave an excellent history and description of Noh and Master Oe demonstrated some techniques. They talked about the power of the stillness of Noh when it is seen in a live performance. I get that. When I saw a Noh play, I felt like I was in a state of meditation. I still carry the image of the production as if it was a composition in a shadow box. Intangible. Inexplicable. I hope to gain enough of an experience through these artists that I can transfer some sort of appreciation of Noh to my own students. Here was the sage advice from Katayama-san: "Appreciate your own lack of understanding. Copy and learn the forms at your best, knowing that you cannot completely understand. Seek out for yourself what you find fascinating in the art."
Just like the mysteries of faith. Embrace that you don't understand, embrace that which you do understand and do the best you can, all the while respecting the mystery.
ReplyDeleteAsian theatre is so often linked to religion too, Cathy. The story of how theatre originated in Japan is that the sun goddess was ticked off with her brother and hid in a cave, leaving the world cast in darkness. So a priest dressed up in a costume, stepped up onto a stone and did a happy dance and song with a staff. Everyone was laughing so hard that the sun goddess poked her head out to see what was happening. They grabbed her and pulled her into the open, and light was restored.
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