| SANO Noboru | shite actor |
|---|---|
| Dr. TAGUCHI Kazumi of SOAS | speaker |
Celebrated Hosho school shite actor SANO Noboru discussed his experience and thoughts about the artform and its powerful relationship with nature in conversation with Dr. TAGUCHI Kazumi of SOAS. Also audiences enjoyed mini-Noh utai chant workshop.
The finale of the festival celebrated a triple bill of a classical Noh masterpiece, and two UK premieres with mesmerising line-ups:
The classical Noh masterpiece – also known as Adachigahara – is one of three kijōmono or onibaba (“demoness” Noh pieces) that use the iconic Hannya female demon Noh masks. In a story redolent with natural imagery and Buddhist philosophy, an old woman hosts a travelling monk for the night but, in anger, she transforms into a fierce demon when he disobeys her orders not to see her bedroom.
Thick & Tight gave the world premiere of the full performance of following the highly acclaimed preview performance at the Barbican Centre in early 2022.
The piece is inspired by the rhythms, structure, choreography, and metaphysical philosophy found in Noh and Kyogen. Through the study of queer culture and queer ecology in the UK and Japan, Thick & Tight consider how the term ‘unnatural’ is often applied to behaviors of the LGBTQ+ community to create divisions around who belongs in our interconnected world.
Costume design by Tim Spooner. (World Premiere)
Hengenka was originally composed in 2017 and premiered at the National Noh Theatre in Tokyo. Isso has drastically rewritten the piece with dance artist Thick & Tight and the recorder player Piers Adams. (UK premiere)
Enchanted by a strange piece of odd-time music. The God of Music, a mysterious old man appears (maeshite or main character of the first half), He is convinced of the importance of music by the mysterious tunes and rhythms that he hears.
Thick & Tight dances to the rhythm of Sambaso (famous ancient divine dance in Noh, praying for a bountiful harvest) as two moths. While the original Sambaso is in 8-beat measures, Isso created this piece in 12-beat measures inspired by flamenco.
The nochishite (main character of the second half), appears as a woman who has suffered in her life. She was hiding in the deepest mountains, and chants, ‘Making the journey across mountains to mountains, making the journey across mountains to mountains, she disappears (a phrase from the Noh piece Yamanba) As she tries to emerge from the darkness, she searches & travels to the east, where the sun rises. Despite her sufferings, she has not lost her faith. Her strong desire and her power to live prevails. This woman may have been the God of Music herself. Reality is in dream and dream is in reality. Improvisational performances by the flute and recorder, progressive rock-like textures, and a tihai style (Indian classical cadence) ending are the notable points of interest.
Piers Adams is one of the greatest recorder players of our age, recognised for his “astonishing, all-out virtuosity” (New York Times), breadth of repertoire and uniquely compelling style, boldly transcending traditional limitations and presenting the recorder as a major-league instrument for the 21st century concert platform. https://piersadams.com/recorder-roadshow
Award winning dance-actors Eleanor Perry and Daniel Hay-Gordon of Thick & Tight talked about the creative process behind their new piece Two Moths in Real Time. Through their residency at Britten Pears Arts and insightful training with Kyogen master SHIGEYAMA Senzaburo in Kyoto, the duo has comprehended the performative, thematic and contextual elements of the art form and tradition of Kyogen (humorous sketches used as interludes during a longer Noh performance), finding connections with their own practice in dance and queer performance.
Thick & Tight is co-directed by Daniel Hay-Gordon and Eleanor Perry
Costumes Design: Tim Spooner
Costume Consultant: Karina Tanabe Jones
Lighting Design: Nao Nagai
Photos by Darren Evans. Hair/Make-up by Darren Evans. Costume by Tim Spooner.
Photo Credit: Britten Pears Arts
You can see the early process of their R&D at Britten Peras Arts to create the Noh inspired new piece “Two Moths in Real Time” ( “Unclouded Moon” was the title in the early stage).
The report of their residency and participation at the Festival of New can be found here.https://brittenpearsarts.org/news/thick-tight-unclouded-moon
In April 2022, Thick & Tight visited Japan to study Noh and Kyogen under Senzaburo Shigeyama and to discover Japanese culture. Watch Natural Behaviour, a film created inspired by the nature, people and culture of Japan.https://noh.muarts.org.uk/event/noh-reimagined-night-moves/
Thick & Tight LOST MOTHS
83 ceramic brooches of Moths, 83 species of Moths lost in the UK , lost forever within nature.
As part of a tour of Japan in Spring 2022, Thick & Tight travelled the country to study the ancient art forms of Noh and Kyogen theatre. On their travels, they have left behind many ceramic brooches of Moths, each one individual in form and hand-crafted by Sheila Hay. The Lost Moths connect to a dance piece called ‘Two Moths In Real Time’, inspired by Noh, Kyogen and Nature. You can read more about this piece on this website. This project, which left 83 brooches across Japan and the United Kingdom, recognises that 83 species of Moths have been lost in the UK in recent years, lost forever within nature.
https://www.thickandtight.com/lostmoths
https://www.thickandtight.com/
Watch Natural Behaviour, a film made by Thick & Tight following a recent visit to Japan.
In Japanese culture the moon is revered, the object of formal ‘moon-viewing parties’, Tsukimi, and a symbol of Enlightenment in Zen Buddhism. In Noh theatre, the moon serves to project subtle human sentiments, changing phases of time and space, and the inspiration for creative expression.
Renowned artist Cerith Wyn Evans created a dream-like setting with a lunar focus for a free-wheeling improvisation by phenomenal Nohkan flautist Yukihiro Isso.
Harking back to the early days of cinema and projected light, the Condition of Illusion is made manifest, and the concept of ‘Ma’ evoked, being the Japanese concept of ‘emptiness’. Into this space, or absence, Isso breathes his iridescent stream of musical virtuosity. (World premiere)
Cerith Wyn Evans is a contemporary Welsh artist known for both his experimental films and complex sculptural installations that incorporate chandeliers and neon lights. Referencing semiotic texts, avant-garde films, and theories on perception, the artist creates works that produce metaphors for the viewer to interpret. “It’s really about fluidity, about drifting through the space, about sounds drifting, images drifting,” he has explained of his work. “You’re moving from one place to another and that movement can happen physically but also emotionally.” Born in 1958 in Llanelli, United Kingdom, he went on to study at the Saint Martin’s School of Art and later under the artist John Stezaker at the Royal College of Art in London. Mostly working in film during the 1980s, Evans began producing sculpture and installation during the early 1990s. Since then, he has gone on to be the subject of exhibitions at White Cube gallery in London, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Tate Gallery in London. The artist currently lives and works in London, United Kingdom. Today, Evans’s works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, and the Center for Contemporary Art in Kitakyushu, Japan, among others.
https://www.whitecube.com/artists/artist/cerith_wyn_evans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerith_Wyn_Evans
This seminar by Professor Andrew Gerstle of SOAS, an eminent scholar who specialises in Japanese traditional theatre, gave tips on how to appreciate Noh, as well as answering any questions about its history, aesthetic concepts, stories, and performance traditions.
| Deborah Nash | producer |
|---|---|
| Verity Lane | director |
| Beibei Wang | percussion |
| Chisato Minamimura | as the Mother |
| Brian Duffy | as the Ferryman |
| Stephanie Daw | choreographer/Ghost Child |
| Mirei Yazawa | costume designer |
| Elizabeth Oliver | Voice-over |
The world premiere of Sumida River in Sign Language, performed by two Deaf artists Chisato Minamimura and Brian Duffy, directed by Verity Lane. The production brings together the world of nature and human experience in a powerful drama of gesture, sign languages (JSL and BSL) movement and music inspired by the 15th century Noh Sumidagawa. At dusk, a ferryman takes his last passengers across the churning waters of the Sumida River. Among them is a mother searching for her lost son, but all she finds on the banks of the river is a ghost child… (World Premiere)
Review of Sumida River in Sign Language
Sumida River in Sign Language is supported by:
Arts Council England, Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, The Royal Victoria Hall Foundation, London Borough of Waltham Forest, Churchill Estates, The Golsoncott Foundation and the Unity Theatre Trust.
Sano Noboru and Kawase Takashi, two shite actors offered a hands-on workshop to learn the basic movement patterns of Noh, including use of physical space, expression, and breath control.
40 participants, most of them are beginners, enjoyed learning the basic Noh posture, Noh suriashi (sliding)walking, the foot movements, how to express emotions such as crying. Sano created a story and danced with participants about a beautiful young woman, overcome with grief, who confronts and defeats the evil ghosts that rise before her, and regains hope and confidence.
In the 60 minutes lesson, participants experienced a rich insight into the Noh movement.
The celebratory second act of Noh masterpiece Fuji (Wisteria), embodies the nature-celebration theme of this year’s festival. We join the story as night falls in a place famous for its beautiful views, when a travelling monk and the spirit of a fragrant Wisteria admire the beauty of the wisteria flowers with poetry, song and dance to honour the wonder of nature.
Alongside the ‘half-noh’ presentation of Fuji, a selection of classical Noh dance and instrumental pieces will also be performed.
