After the thrill of yesterday's event at the Kanze Kaikan Noh Theater, I am more determined not to disappoint my teachers. They have often mentioned that we have done better than they expected. A classmate told me that, last year, there were several students who were lazy and reluctant to get up and try. Our teachers don't expect us to master techniques in 3 weeks that they have spent a life time learning, but they do want us to give every effort to perform "real Noh - not sort of Noh" (Tamoi-san) That's what we intend to do to the best of our abilities. --- What will I bring home from this experience? The confidence that this 53 year-old out-of-shape body can be pushed to achieve grace onstage, the sense of the power of stillness onstage, the internalization of emotion so that it is focused through the energy of the movement, a sense of the completion of each moment and yet the ease of flow of one moment to the next - That happens if Kyogen too as I observed in their rehearsal last night. --- What will I miss? The surprise of a lovely arrangement of stones or plants in a little alley, the smiles on my teachers' faces when they see they have illuminated another mystery for us, the communal rising note of voices saying,"eeeeeeeehhhhhh!" in a surprised reaction that happens all the time in Kyoto, and the kindness of the people here when I'm lost or have to finish a job. Our last class will be tonight. I know I will miss our sensei most of all.
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