Acclaimed Japanese actor Tsunao Yamai will be introducing Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»to Noh this weekend.
Noh is a traditional form of musical theatre rooted firmly in 14th century Japan. Performers don colourful robes and stylized masks, while plots typically centre around a historical figure and often involve ghosts. The movements of the actors are abstracted or reduced to a basic form, and music focuses on simplicity, involving a minimal number of instruments.
Yamais upcoming Noh Meets Canada combines an introductory workshop, designed to teach viewers the history, costumes, and movements of the medium, with a brief performance of Kumano, a classic Noh play featuring full costume and musical accompaniment. The event is being presented by the Consul General of Japan.
To fully appreciate the form of Noh, said Seiji Okada, Consul General of Japan in Vancouver, in an email, some education is helpful and thats part of the motive for having Tsunao Yamai and an ensemble from the Komparu school here This will be a presentation for people with no knowledge of the art. It will be a real live inside look at the world of Noh theatre from some highly accomplished performers.
Vancouvers high population of Japanese-Canadians (30,230 according to the 2006 census) has provided a solid ground for Japanese performance arts, such as the Yayoi Theatre Movement Society (YTMS), which was founded in Japan in 1990 and moved to Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»in 2002. YTMSs productions blend traditional Japanese forms with contemporary themes.
Demand [for Japanese theatre] has been growing in the past couple years, said Yayoi Hirano, founder of YTMS. Our audiences are usually half Japanese and half non-Japanese people. In Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»theres a demand to see something different, so a lot of people like Japanese theatre.
Okada notes that Vancouvers positive attitude towards multiculturalism and its influences from across the Pacific have both contributed to an open mind-set towards performance arts that are less known. Once people experience them live people realize the unique and high calibre of performing that is taking place in other countries.
Noh Meets Canada will be performed at the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Japanese Language School at 487 Alexander Street, on May 11, 1:30pm. Admission is free.
