A couple of months ago Mewby and I were invited to attend a traditional live music show at "Ran Theater Kyoto". During the show we were entertained by a large number of talented and enthusiastic musicians playing a variety of traditional instruments from all over the Japanese archipelago. I found the show highly enjoyable, but the audience was a little sparse when we went and … [Read more...]
Maiko Dinner Show at Kyoto Restaurant Yasakadori Enraku
Many thanks to Anna Kase for sending in the following information. Much has been written about Kyoto's maiko, the famous apprentice geisha (properly called geiko in Kyoto) who entertain wealthy guests with traditional music, dance, songs, games and good conversation. In the past it was quite difficult for overseas visitors to gain access to the traditional tea houses … [Read more...]
A Close Encounter with Butoh Dance at the Kyoto Butoh-kan
Today we have a special guest post from Florentyna Leow on the world’s first theatre expressly devoted to regular Butoh performances. Butoh is an avant-garde dance style originating in Japan. First developed by Kazuo Ono and Hijikata Tatsumi in the 1960s, one of the central features of Butoh is its very indefinability - it is difficult to attach a definition or set of … [Read more...]
A First View of Kabuki
My latest article for Inside Kyoto is about a visit to Kyoto's Minamiza Theater to see a kabuki show. Going to see kabuki is one of those things I have long wanted to do, but somehow I had never gotten around to - until now. I had strong doubts before going about whether I could enjoy it, as I knew that the language would be archaic and difficult to understand. In the event I … [Read more...]
‘Introduction to Noh theatre’ begins at Impact Hub Kyoto this Spring
‘Introduction to Noh theatre’ by The International Noh Institute (INI) is a 6-session course at Impact Hub Kyoto, aimed at Kyoto residents, exchange students, or any other English-speaker who would like to take a closer look at Noh theatre’s tradition. Details at the LINK! … [Read more...]
鸚鵡小町 – Ōmu Komachi at the Ōe Noh Theatre on Sept 15th
Today we have a guest post from Itsuko Nakamura, Meet Ono-no-Komachi, one of the Six Poetic Geniuses who lived in 8th century Kyoto, brought back to life by the most highly acclaimed Noh actors of today on Kyoto’s oldest Noh stage! Noh, the oldest musical drama of Japan, has been continuously performed for over 650 years (and has been designated as an “Intangible Cultural … [Read more...]
Noh by Torchlight – Takigi Noh
I just got tickets for the torchlight Takigi Noh performance at Heian Jingu this Sunday. Since March Mewby and I have been occasionally attending Noh performances at the Kanze Kaikan. Noh is of course notorious for sending people off to sleep, but our experience is that if you have a script to read along then it can be enthralling. Fortunately I was able to find the scripts for … [Read more...]
Charity Noh Performance for Tohoku Disaster Relief at Kyoto Kanze Kaikan 3/11
Next week Kyoto Kanze Kaikan is holding two charity Noh performances to raise funds for victims of the 2011 Tohoku Disaster. They will be held on the morning and evening of March 11th - the anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami. If you aren't familiar with Noh, it's best to take a script with you. There is a lot of talking in Noh plays, they are speaking medieval … [Read more...]
the能.com probably has pretty much everything you need to get started with Noh drama…
I have been following Diego Pellecchia's facinating Noh blog for a couple of months now. Diego is training with the Kongō school of Noh, here in Kyoto and his blog offers a kind of portal into that world. Wanting to learn more, last week I asked him if he could recommend any beginner's texts as an introduction to the world of Noh. Rather than a text he recommended this website, … [Read more...]
Sailing Without the Wind: A Performance by Peter Golightly & Bruno the Bad Boy
Billed as a "evening of music, dance and life", this show looks to be amazing and it bears a very important message... Peter Golightly has kindly written to tell us more about it: "I'm a long time Kyoto resident and I've been doing the dance singing theater thing for better than 30 years here. Bruno has been around for about 18 years. He's a performance artist who … [Read more...]
SONORIA by Hanna Preuss December 1st & 2nd @ Atelier Gekken
Thanks to Micah Gampel for the following event information: Please come for live performance art from Europe and special event this Saturday and Sunday December 1st & 2nd. Celebrating the anniversary of 20 years of friendship between Slovenia and Japan. With a short film of a Bunraku collaboration performed last Saturday in Wachi, Kyoto. You will enjoy a performance … [Read more...]
TEDxKyoto 2012
Congratulations to Jay Klaphake and his team for successfully organizing the very first TEDxKyoto last Sunday! I attended this event with a good deal of curiosity. I have never attended a TED event before. However, having seen a number of inspiring talks online from the main TED event, my expectations were naturally set high. How would TEDxKyoto match up? Naturally, there … [Read more...]
The Flame @ Papa John’s Eatery
Charles Roche says, On Sunday, May 27th " The Flame", an evening of true, personal, experience stories told by suspect individuals will debut at Papa Jon's Eatery. Stories (all in English) begin at 7:00PM. No translations provided. Inspired by the famous New York storytelling NPO, The Moth, Kyoto's The Flame has the potential to be an exciting new regular get-together for our … [Read more...]
“Avenue Q” Performance Benefit for Tohoku a Great Success!
A very big congratulations to director John Gorman and the very brave students of Ryukoku University for their sterling production of the comedy musical Avenue Q. Praise should also go to Mika Matsumoto McLoughlin for her musical direction. I was pleasantly surprised at how good the show was and impressed by the students gutsy attitude in putting on a big song and dance … [Read more...]
