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Noh “Adachigahara”
Presented by Otsuki-ohgakudo |
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Noh is the oldest theater art in the world
and has been handed down from generation to generation for more
than 600 years. The principal characters in Noh plays are mostly
ghosts or spirits, who illuminate aspects of human nature and passions
by recounting the stories of their own former lives. Music is added
by a chorus, called the jiutai, and an instrumental ensemble, the
hayashi. The latter consists of four traditional musical instruments:
a fue (Noh flute), a kotsuzumi (shoulder drum), an otsuzumi (side
drum) and a taiko (stick drum). There is no conductor, the instrumentalists
creating a perfect ensemble by listening to the voices and "reading"
the atmosphere of each others performance. |
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Photography
by Mitsuru Moriguchi |
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Both
Kyogen, the comedy theater, and Noh can trace their origins back
to medieval times, and these contrasting arts are traditionally
performed together in a program. Kyogen is easy to understand because
it depicts the everyday lives of ordinary people in medieval times,
using the spoken language of the time. It is considered to be an
gart of laughter that has been highly refined throughout the history
of its development alongside Noh.
http://www.iijnet.or.jp/NOH-KYOGEN |
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