The INI summer intensive program 2017 is now over and we would like to take the chance to thank all participants and instructors! This year for the first time Udaka Michishige was joined by his sons Tatsushige and Norishige as main instructors. It has been a wonderful edition of our summer program, with many highlights, such as observing the rehearsals for two full noh plays and attending many performances both open-air (Hagoromo and Kokaji at Fushimi-Inari Taisha, Makura-jido at Horinji in Arashiyama) and indoors (Nonomiya and Nue at the Kongo Noh Theatre). While the main target of the workshop is to introduce participants to the basics of noh theatre chant and dance, it is very important that they can get as much exposure to performance as possible. This is often difficult to achieve during short training periods because noh typically is performed in one-off events, without repetitions. We are glad that our participants could enjoy such a variety of performances this year.
As for the workshop, this year we decided to start with a difficult piece for an absolute beginner: the shimai dance excerpt from the Noh Shojo (‘The Wine Elf’). This dance involves complex fan routines and combines mimetic and abstract movements. Despite the difficulty, all participants worked hard and could successfully memorize the dance in addition to the chant. Finally, a selected few had the privilege to perform the dance wearing the shojo mask, normally only used in the full performance with costumes and mask.
We hope that participants will keep up their interest in noh and that they will visit us again in Kyoto!
— Diego Pellecchia, Program Manager
The International Noh Institute 
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