|
|
2006.5.8 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 | New site launched as video library of the Japanese traditional arts |
| |  In April, a new “Regional Cultural Assets” (Chiiki Bunka Shisan) site was launched as an archive of some 100 videos recording traditional arts from around Japan, such as local festivals, Shinto music and dance, shishimai (“lion dance”) and other types of dances. On this site the arts promotion organization Japan Foundation for Regional Art-Activities makes an archive of videos that have been created for the purpose of encouraging the preservation and continuation of these traditions. The videos range in length from just over ten minutes to as long as two hours and all have been edited with a five-minute digest type introduction. Also, the site is designed to enable search by locality and detailed category classifications, and there is a function that enable viewing of the portable shrines and the floats used in festivals. Plans call for additions to be made to the archive beginning next year. Note that the films and site are in Japanese only.
| + | Library content samples |
| • | Esashi no Shishi Odori (The Stag Dance of Esashi) (Iwate Pref.)
The dancers wear large-horned deer headdresses with a pair of long ornamental staffs extending upwards from their backs and a drum strapped to their waists hat they beat strongly while dancing with deer-like movements. |
| |
| • | Oga no Namahage (The Namahage of Oga) (Akita Pref.)
This is a ritual where young men of the town dress up as red and blue demons and go from house to house on the night of the 31st of Dec. supposedly seeking out lazy people to punish. It is a ritual intended to bring good crops and large catches in the coming year. |
| |
| • | Kumano Jinja Shikinen Jinko-sai (Kumano Shrine Festival) (Chiba Pref.)
This Shinto festival is held once every 12 years in the Year of the Rabbit. Over three days a mikoshi (portable shrine enshrined with a deity image) is paraded through a determined course by thousands of festival participants. The climax of the festival comes when the mikoshi is carried down to the beach and into the water. |
| |
| • | Tosa Shoro Nagashi (The spirit boat festival of Tosa) (Nagasaki Pref.)
On Aug. 15 every year during the Obon festival, boats decorated with lanterns are sent adrift on the river to receive the spirits of the ancestors that return to their family homes once a year during this festival. |
|
|
| Soliciting participants for the ITI Traditional Theatre Workshop Vol.18 “Nihon Buyo” (Classical dance of Kabuki) |
| | In order to deepen the understanding of Japanese traditional theatre among professional actors from abroad, ITI Japanese Centre has held annual short-term intensive workshops offering instruction in the arts of Noh, Kyogen, Kabuki, Nihon Buyo (dance of Kabuki), Japanese Folklore and Gagaku music since 1988.
For 2006, ITI Japanese Centre will hold its fourth Nihon Buyo Workshop under the direction of the famous Nihon Buyo artists from the various schools of dance including the Hanayagi Sumi, Hanayagi Kan-ichi and other masters of the Hanayagi school, Fujima school, Nishikawa school and Yoshimura school. The workshop will be held from August 13 to 22 at the Shochiku rehearsal studio at the Kabuki-za theatre in Tokyo. Instruction with English interpretation will be given in basic movement training, dancing, exercises using fans and other props and the texts used will be the Tenaraiko, Echigojishi and Itakodejima. Use will also be made of the music for Kabuki dance.
Please note this workshop is designed for performing arts professionals. Applications are now being accepted for participants in this workshop. This workshop is supported by Agency for Cultural Affairs.
| + | Outline |
| Dates/hours: | August 13 to 22, 2006, from 10:00 to 17:30
Number of participants: 20 (We accept participants regardless of nationality) |
| Venue: | Rehearsal studio of Kabuki-za Theatre
4-12-15, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo (subway : Higashi Ginza station)
Edo-Tokyo Museum Hall
1-4-1, Yokoami, Sumida-ku, Tokyo (JR-Sobu line and Oh-edo line: Ryogoku station) |
| Participation Fee: | 30,000 yen |
| Deadline for application is July 25, 2006 |
| The workshop is conducted in English, so English ability is required.
Foreigners presently living in Japan are also welcome.
Enrollment is limited, so a selection might be done from submitted applications.
For further information and application, please visit our website: http://www.ceres.dti.ne.jp/~iti/ |
| Contact: | Japanese Centre of the International Theatre Institute
c/o National Noh Theatre
4-18-1, Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0051
Phone: (+81-0)3-3478-2189
Fax: (+81-0)3-3478-7218
E-mail: iti@ceres.dti.ne.jp |
|
|
| Nakamura Kanzaburo to give small-theater performance tour |
| | Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII has announced that he will undertake a Kabuki performance tour of eight locations where old Japanese-style small theaters from the Edo, Meiji, Taisho and early Showa periods remain. The venues will include some of the most famous old theaters from around Japan, such as the oldest known theater in Japan, the Kanamaru-za built in 1835, the Yachiyo-za that just underwent major renovation in 2001 (built originally in 1910) and the Kaho Theater built in 1931 and recently renovated as a result of flood damage. Since Kanzaburo gave his first “Konpira Kabuki” performance at the Kanamaru-za in 1985, there have been cases of such performances in small old theaters from time to time, but this is the first such full-fledged performance tour.
Kanzaburo is one of the key persons in the Kabuki world today, not only in terms of popularity and artistry but also for the new possibilities he continues to bring to Kabuki, as with his recent collaborations with contemporary theater figures such as the directors Hideki Noda and Kazuyoshi Kushida. One recent success that is still fresh in our memories is his Kabuki-as-entertainment production in New York in 2004, for which he created one of his “Heisei Nakamura-za” productions for a specially built temporary theater that was a recreation of the small theaters of the Edo period (17th and 18th centuries).
| + | Outline |
| Performers: | Nakamura Kanzaburo, Nakamura Senjaku, Bando Yajuro, Nakamura Kantaro, Nakamura Shichinosuke, others |
| Plays: | Afternoon performance—Honcho Nijushiko, Migawari Zazen
Evening performance—Yoshitsune Senbon-zakura |
| Schedule: |
Korakukan (Akita Pref., built 1910): July 7-9
Higashi-za (Gifu Pref., built 1889): July 22 (for local citizens)
Meiji-za (Gifu Pref., built 1894): July 23
Yachiyo-za (Kumamoto Pref., built 1910): July 25
Kaho Theater (Fukuoka Pref., built 1931): Sept. 2-3
Konpira Grand Theater (Kanamaru-za) (Kagawa Pref., built 1835): Sept. 16-18
Uchiko-za (Ehime Pref., built 1916): Sept. 20
Aioi-za Mino kabuki Museum (Gifu Pref., moved and restored 1976): Sept. 23
Heisei Nakamura-za (Kabuki performances in a temporary theater created by modifying the gymnasium of the Doho Academy in Aichi Pref.): Sept. 24-27 |
|
|
| New National Theatre Tokyo 2006/2007 season program announced |
| | New National Theatre Tokyo has announced the program of theater performances for the period from September 2006 to July 2007. With a change in artistic directors for the theater scheduled to take place in September of 2007, this is the last season of programs under the present artistic director, Tamiya Kuriyama, before he is replaced by Hitoshi Uyama.
Among the highlights of the upcoming 2006/2007 season will be new works by two outstanding young directors on the contemporary theater scene, Keishi Nagatsuka (leader of the Asagaya Spiders) and Toshiki Okada (leader of the Chelfitsch). Attention has also come to focus on a series of three works, including Cyrano de Bergerac, Oedipus Rex and Ivanov, that represent the first Tokyo productions in 16 years for director Tadashi Suzuki (artistic director of the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center). There will also be a Japan-China collaborative production between Oriza Hirata of Seinendan and the Chinese playwright/director Li Liuyi, a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by John Caird of Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company with a Japanese cast, as well as other efforts involving international exchange such as productions of new plays written by overseas playwrights and directed by Kuriyama.
| + | New National Theater 2006/2007 season theater lineup |
| • | Sept.-Oct. 2006--Small Theater
New work Asia no Onna (Woman of Asia)
Playwright and directed by Keisi Nagatsuka
Starring Yasuko Tomita, Yoshimasa Kondo, Eiji Sugawara, Ryo Iwamatsu, others |
| |
| • | Nov. 2006--Middle Theater, Small Theater
Collaborative productions of Cyrano de Bergerac (Middle Theater), Oedipus Rex and Ivanov (Small Theater) by the New National Theatre Tokyo and the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center under the program “Gekiteki na Jonen wo Megutte — World Famous Plays.” The works will be directed by Tadashi Suzuki, who has also made the adaptations from the original plays by Edmond Rostand (Cyrano), Sophocles (Oedipus) and A. Chekhov (Ivanov). |
| |
| • | Dec. 2006--Small Theater THE LOFT
New work Enjoy
Playwright and directed by Toshiki Okada |
| |
| • | Mar. 2007--Small Theater
COPENHAGEN
By Michael Frayn, translated by Daisaku Hirakawa
Directed by Hitoshi Uyama
Starring Kunio Murai, Tomohiko Imai, Jun Arai |
| |
| • | Apr. 2007--Small Theater
New play by foreign playwright
CLEANSKINS (Japanese title undecided)
By Shan Khan, translation by Koushi Odajima
Directed by Tamiya Kuriyama |
| |
| • | May 2007--Small Theater
Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo--China-Japan collaborative project production
New work Hana ni Arashi no Tatoe mo Aru-sa (Falling Blossoms Are Sometimes Compared to A Storm) (tentative title)
Written by Oriza Hirata and Li Liuyi
Directed by Li Liuyi and Oriza Hirata
Performed by actors from China and Japan |
| |
| • | May-June 2007--Middle Theater
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By Shakespeare, translation by Kazuko Matsuoka
Directed by John Caird
Starring Toru Emori, Rei Asami, others |
| |
| • | June-July 2007--Small Theater
The Iceman Cometh
By Eugene O'Neill, translation by Koji Numasawa
Directed by Tamiya Kuriyama
Starring Masachika Ichimura, Katsumi Kiba, Shu Nakajima, Chukichi Kubo, others |
|
|
| JCDN’s new DVD introduces Japanese contemporary dance artists |
| | Japan Contemporary Dance Network (JCDN) is an NPO made up of artists and other professionals in the dance world engaged in activities aimed at promoting the development of contemporary dance and the necessary environment for that development. With support from the Agency for Cultural Affairs program for the support of arts organization, artist and personnel development since 2002, JCDN has been publishing a booklet (in Japanese) introducing the profiles and activities of the Network’s members and DVDs (in Japanese/English) containing videos of performances under the series title JCDN Membership Dance File. The 5th edition of this series has recently been released with introductions of 57 artists and 57 companies, making it an ideal resource for learning about the present state of contemporary dance in Japan.
Note that the 2004 edition of the booklet is also posted on the JCDN website. If you are interested in the 2005 edition of the JCDN Membership Dance File, please direct your inquiries to jcdn@jcdn.org. |
|
| Yukio Ninagawa to form a theater company for senior citizens |
| | Following his appointment as artistic director for the Sainokuni Saitama Art Theater in January 2006, director Yukio Ninagawa announced the formation of a new theater company for senior citizens named “Saitama Gold Theater.” This experimental company is to be part of Ninagawa’s efforts as artistic director to open up new areas of expression and it will be open to people over the age of 55. A total 1,266 people turned out for the company auditions, or 60 times the number of openings. Mr. Ninagawa himself served as one of the judges for the auditions, which took Three Sisters, King Lear, and Sotobakomachi as the audition subjects. The selections for the roughly 20 acting position open are expected to be announced in early April. When talking about his desire to “create a new type of theatrical expression based on personal histories of older people,” Ninagawa cites the example of the Polish director Tadeusz Kantor who is known for his The Dead Class in which former elementary school classmates who have grown old talk about their memories. The first performances from this new Ninagawa undertaking are planned for the spring of 2007.
For his ambitious creative activities in 2005, Ninagawa won two prestigious awards in the Asahi Performing Arts Special Award and the Yomiuri Drama Grand Prix. For 2006
he already has six productions scheduled to be staged by November. Attention is focus on Ninagawa’s production of Byakuya no Valkyrie, his second attempt to bring plays by Hideki Noda to the stage, following Pandora no Kane, and more.
| + | Outline of “Saitama Gold Theater” |
| Actors: | Approx. 20 |
| Requirements: | People seeking to become professional actors (experience not asked about). As a rule applicants must be over 55 years of age. Must be able to attend rehearsals five days a week between April 2006 and March 2007 |
| Rehearsal hours: | Five days a week (4-5 hours a day) |
| Basic lessons: | Acting, voice and movement, dance, Japanese buyo traditional dance |
| Special lessons: | Theatrical fighting, classroom lectures |
| + | Yukio Ninagawa 2006 production schedule |
| • | Feb. 3-19, 2006
Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare
Saitama Arts Theater, etc. |
| • | Apr. 21-May 7, 2006
Titus Andronicus by Shakespeare
Saitama Arts Theater, etc.
*There will also be performances in the UK at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (June 16-24) and Theatre Royal Plymouth (June 29-July 1) |
| • | May 7-30, 2006
Byakuya no Valkyrie by Hideki Noda
Bunkamura Theatre Cocoon |
| • | July 6-30, 2006
’Tis Pity She's a Whore by John Ford
Bunkamura Theater Cocoon |
| • | Sept. 6-Oct. 1, 2006
Orestes
Bunkamura Theatre Cocoon |
| • | Nov. 2006 (planned)
Work undecided
Bunkamura Theatre Cocoon |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 | 2006 Seoul Theater Festival opens May 2 |
| | One of Seoul’s two main theater festivals, the Seoul Theater Festival opens on May 2 with a 20-day schedule of events. In its 27th holding this year, the festival is a big annual event for theater people that offers a wide range of performances in venues centered mainly around the theater district of “University Road” (Taehangno Street) and including events at outdoor cafes and street performances. With no invited foreign productions, this is a festival where visitors can enjoy a schedule of purely Korean theater. The festival also features competition for awards for the best productions, directing, plays and actors that are announced at the closing ceremony.
| + | Outline |
| Dates: | May 2-21, 2006 |
| Venues: | Taehangno Street/ARKO (Arts Council Korea) Theater (former Arts Hall) Large Hall, Small Hall and other theaters on Taehangno Street, Shinchon/Sogang Univ. Mary Hall |
| Organizers: | Seoul Theater Association |
| Support: | The Municipality of Seoul, Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, Korean Culture and Arts Foundation, The National Theater Association of Korea, Inc |
|
|
| Korea-Japan Dance Festival starts May 24 |
| | This festival has been jointly planned and organized since 2003 by Theater Zero in Seoul and the Aoyama Round Theatre in Tokyo as an event to promote exchange between young Korean and Japanese dancers (Japanese name: Japan-Korea Dance Contact). The festival is held alternately in South Korea and Japan and this year it is held in Seoul from May 24 to 28.
| + | Outline |
| Dates: | May 24-28, 2006 |
| Venue: | Taehangno Street/ARKO (Arts Council Korea) Theater (former Arts Hall) Small Hall |
| Organizers: | Theater Zero, Aoyama Round Theatre, Korea-Japan Dance Festival Organizing Committee, Japan-Korea Dance Contact Organizing Committee |
| Support: | Japanese Cultural Institute of the Japanese Consulate in South Korea, Seoul Culture Center of the Japan Foundation |
| Production cooperation: | Office Dam/Dance in Deed! |
|
|
| International dance festival MODAFE 2006 opens May 24 |
| | The contemporary dance festival MODAFE 2006 will run from May 24 until June 6 just prior to Seoul’s International Dance Festival. This festival was begun in 1982 with the aim of stimulating and globalizing the Korean dance scene and this year is its 25th holding. In 2002 the festival changed its name to Modern Dance Festival or “MODAFE” as it strove to establish itself as a world-class dance festival. This year’s theme is “the future of civilization as imagined through the body” and it will feature a range of innovative and progressive domestic and international dance works incorporating elements for wide-ranging genre, including art, video, music, literature and theater.
| + | Outline |
| Dates: | May 24-June 6, 2006 |
| Venues: | Taehangno Street/ARKO (Arts Council Korea) Theater (former Arts Hall) Large Hall and Small Hall, Shinchon/Sogang Univ. Mary Hall |
|
|
| 20th International Congress of the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) to be held in Hong Kong (June 6 to 11, 2006) |
| | ISPA in a membership type international non-profit organization that was founded in 1949 for the purpose of building an international network for professionals in the performing arts fields. Taking a broad perspective on the performing art environment, ISPA seeks to establish international tie-ups, foster new leaders in the field and elevate the role of the performing arts in society. The Society has roughly 600 individual and organization members in 50 countries around the world today, including representatives of halls and theaters, arts company leaders, artist managers, government agency officials, producers and the like. Two congresses are held a year, one in January in New York where the Society’s headquarters are located and the other on a rotating basis in one of the member countries in June. Its other activities include running a website and disseminating information to its members with publishing the newsletters.
The theme of ISPA’s 20th International Congress to be held in June in Hong Kong is “The New Silk Road for the Performing Arts,” using the name of the old trade route between China and the West as a symbol of the desire to promote new development and exchange in the performing arts between Asia and the West.
Conferences will be held on the six sub-themes of “Touring Opportunities in Asia,” “Strategies and Thinkings Behind Asia's Performing Arts Centres,” “Discovering and Reproducing Authentic Arts,” “Remaking of Tradition – Music,” “Remaking of Tradition – Theatre” and “Remaking of Tradition – Dance.” Participating as panelists in the Remaking of Tradition – Theatre conference from Japan will be the Kyogen actor and artistic director of the Setagaya Public Theater, Mansai Nomura and the same theater’s general producer Hiroshi Takahagi. Visit the congress’ website for details about other events on the program.
| + | Inquiries to:
The Arts Organizations Office, 5/F., Leisure & Cultural Services Headquarters, 1-3 Pai Tau Street, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
Fax: (852) 2696 3581
E-mail: wkkyan@lcsd.gov.hk, rcmyu@lscd.gov.hk |
|
|
| 2006 DUMBO DANCE FESTIVAL in New York, soliciting Japanese choreographers, dancers |
| | From Oct. 19 to 22, the New York dance company WHITE WAVE (led by Young Soon Kim) will hold the fifth of its “DUMBO DANCE FESTIVAL” series begun in 2001. The venue will be the John Ryan Theater in Brooklyn. The festival gathers more than 90 choreographers and dancers/companies, including many Korean groups active in the U.S., to give performances of their work. They also seek Japanese choreographers, dancers and groups to participate. As a related event following the festival, WHITE WAVE organizes a series of full-length showcase performances by 12 companies from Oct. 25 to Nov. 5.
|
|
| Showcase performers solicited for Singapore’s Asian Arts Mart 2007 |
| | The biennial Asian Arts Mart (AAM) will be held next in Singapore in 2007 from June 1 to 3. At the 2005 event there were 30 exhibition booths aimed a fusion of Asian and Western arts and about 20 showcase events that offered contemporary Asian artists the opportunity for new exchange. The 2007 event also plans to hold about 20 showcase performances. Applications are now being accepted for artists to participate in these showcase positions. Application information and forms are available at the e-mail address below. The deadline for applications is August 15.
|
|
| Accepting applications for “World Summit on Arts and Culture” participation |
| | The World Summit on Arts and Culture is conducted as a convention of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) established in 2000 with the aim of creating a functioning network of public arts agencies from around the world. The first summit was held in Canada in 2000 and the second in Singapore in 2003. The third summit will be held in cooperation with the British Arts Council at GatesheadNewcastle, known for its great contributions to the promotion of arts and culture. The dates for the summit are June 14 to 18 and it will be attended by approximately 500 presenters from around the world, including representatives from the arts councils of the many participating countries.
The theme of this year’s summit is “Transforming places — transforming lives.” While focusing on revitalizing the arts and culture, its agenda will include presentations on examples of arts and cultural activities that have helped inspire material, social and economic revolutions around the world. Among the main speakers scheduled to date are Judge Albie Sachs of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Lord Puttnam of Queensgate, who is President of UNICEF UK, Sir Ken Robinson, who is Senior Adviser, Education, The Getty Foundation, USA, and Dr. Beatriz Garcia, RCUK Academic Fellow of the UK.
For booking and program details visit the World Summit on Arts and Culture website.
|
|
| The complete works of Shakespeare to be performed at his birthplace — Initial schedule announced for the RSC “Complete Works Festival” |
| | The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has announced its unprecedented plan for a “Complete Works Festival” in which all the plays of Shakespeare will be performed during a one-year period beginning in April 2006. The performances will mainly be staged at the theatres in Stratford upon Avon in the town of Shakespeare’s birth and will include not only productions by the RSC but also many invited overseas productions from countries including South Africa, the U.S. and Belgium. From Japan will be invited a production of director Yukio Ninagawa’s Titus Andronicus (2004) which drew acclaim for its all-white stage art and costumes and fast-moving staging (Re-staging at the Saitama Arts Theatre from April 21).
The festival’s first program (Apr.-Sept.) is as follows:
| + | First Program: Main performances from April to October 2006: |
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Antony and Cleopatra
Cymbeline
Hamlet
Henry IV
Henry VI
Henry VIII
Julius Caesar
King John
Love's Labour's Lost
Titus Andronicus (Directed by Yukio Ninagawa)
Troilus and Cressida (Directed by Peter Stein)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (A musical starring Judi Dench)
King Lear (Directed by Trevor Nunn, starring Ian McKellen) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
