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--Kabuki Legend--
Who or what is this muse of Noh?
As I learned 'Noh' is the art of Japanese Dance and Theater.
-Noh Dancing.
The dancing in Noh has a variety of origins:
Kusemai: Mime performed by Buddhist monks while reciting poetry.
Kagura: Shinto dances containing the use of the fan and the form of the musical ensemble, used to invite the Gods to be present;
Eunen: dances of the Buddhist priests at their festivals.
Dengaku: music and dances from the fields and the rice festivals;
Bugaku: imperial court dances of 12th century Japan;
Furyu: popular songs and dances of the 14th century performed intermittently to avoid pestilence or achieve salvation;
Sarugaku: acrobatics and magic tricks.
Dances are an intrinsic part of many Noh plays. The dances vary somewhat in style depending on the situation in the plot. Generally, they are solo, and several minutes in length. The dances are generally slow by balletic standards, with no gymnastic quality. Virtuostic leaps and spins are considered vulgar. The ideal technique is such as to be hidden by its perfection, with no effort being seen by the audience. This ideal has been espoused in ballet.
Leaps and turns do occur in Noh dancing . The path in space, both of parts of the body in gesturing, and of the whole body in locomotion, is cursive, unlike the linear movements often used in ballet. Noh dancing is often meant to be smooth and free flowing, even meandering. This has been related to the curved forms in Japanese script.
The movements (Kata) can be classified into different forms,although this is artificial because of the importance of the rhythm (Ma) as the movements meld into each other. The transitions have to be subtle and alive, pulsed by the dancer's rhythm. The rhythm should grow and then fade, like a flower blooming from a bud and then withering. The patterns of movement in the Kata are not fixed, but depend on the dancer's creativity. Some are so subtle that they are impossible to teach. Although training starts at age six, it has been said that true beauty in dance cannot be achieved under the age of fifty.
The Basic standing position is with the torso tense and slightly tilted forward, the back being lengthened. The arms curve downward and the knees are flexed, giving Noh dance its essence of earthiness. There is no equivalent of elevation and the sense of lightness found in ballet.
-Noh Plays.
Noh theatre, has a place in Japanese society that bears some analogies to the place Shakespearian drama has in the West: the dramas and their stories are well known; they were composed several hundred years ago; they are in the archaic language of that time; were performed only by male actors until recently; assume other customs, dress, habits, and society of that time; are based on older myths and legends current then.
Technical terms for Noh plays.
The stage
Bridgeway = hashigakari
Center = mannaka
Curtain = makuguchi
Doer post = shite-bashira
Down front = shomen-saki
Drums(before) = daisho-mae
First pine = ichi no matsu
Flute post = fue-bashira
Fool's spot = ai-za
Front = shomen
Main = spot joza
Mark post = metsuke-bashira
Second pine = ni no matsu
Side = waki shomen
Sideman's spot = waki-za
Slit door = kirido
Stagehand spot = koken-za
Third pine = san no matsu
Fan Movements and Movements and Gestures
Clasped fan:kakae ogi. The open fan, held in the right hand, is pressed to the left shoulder and the actor gazes a little to his right.
Cloud fan:kumo no ogi. The actor joins the open fan, held as usual in his right hand, with his left hand, directly in front of him; then he spreads these apart and gazes into the distance.
(to) Display fan:ogi o kazasu. The open fan is displayed at the level of the head.
Excitement:yuken. The open fan is raised and lowered at the level of the heart.
Fan high:age-ogi. The open fan is lifted up before the face, then lowered toward the right.
Full excitement:ryo-yuken. The gesture of yuken is made with both hands.
Full leftright:ozayu. The actor takes several steps while performing a leftright.
Leftright:sayu. The actor thrusts his left hand forward and turns to the left, then thrusts his right hand forward and turns to the right.
(to) Open:hiraku. The actor spreads both arms wide, while taking a step and a half backward.
(to) Press toward:tsume-ashi. The actor takes one or two steps forward, very intently.
Modes of Delivery of Text.
Off: off-beat or non-congruent rhythm, hyoshi awazu
On: on-beat or congruent rhythm, hyoshi au
Onori: a particular form of congruent rhythm
S: song, fushi
Sp: speech, kotoba
Str: strong or dynamic mode, tsuyogin. A style of singing
W: weak or melodic mode, yowagin. A style of singing
? a place where it is unclear if the
mode of delivery is tsuyogin or yowagin.
These modes of delivery are normally indicated in the left margin under the name of each shodan, or subdivision of the play. However, when the mode of delivery changes within a shodan, the change is shown by the presence of the appropriate abbreviation at the head of the passage in which the delivery changes. When, under the name of the shodan, the mode of delivery is followed by an asterisk, this means that the shodan contains both speech and song.
The Subdivisions of Plays.
The plays are divided into sections set off by arabic numerals, and further subdivided into shodan, which are indicated by Japanese names. Both numerals and shodan names are in the left margin of the text. Where a shodan has no traditional name, this is shown by an asterisk in the place where the name would normally be given. All shodan and numbered divisions of the text follow Yokomichi Mario and Omote Akira's Yokyoku shu, vols. 1 and 2, in Nihon koten bungaku taikei.
-Noh Masks and Facial Expression Perceptions.
The full-face masks worn by skilled actors in Japanese Noh drama can induce a variety of perceived expressions with changes in head orientation. Rotation of the head out of the visual plane changes the two dimensional image characteristics of the mask which viewers may misinterpret as non-rigid changes due facial muscle action.
The lifelike changeability of these masks has been known in the Noh theatre for centuries. The earliest such masks were carved in the Kamakura period. The effect is considered to be an important ingredient in the mysterious atmosphere of Noh drama.
This is a Noh Dancer.
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