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The 15th Udaka Seiran Noh: Hagoromo, Ataka

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This year the annual Udaka Seiran Noh performance will feature the Noh Ataka with the very special kogaki (performance variations) ennen takinagashi, kai-tsuke kai-date. Udaka Michishige will take the leading shite role, while his sons Tatsushige and Norishige will take the tsure supporting roles as disguised yamabushi priests. Michishige’s eldest son Tatsushige will also perform his first Noh with a kogaki: Hagoromo (banshiki variation).

Minamoto no Yoshitsune, one of Japan’s tragic heros, is known as a talented and charismatic general, and as the lover of shirabyoshi dancer Shizuka Gozen. The relatiohship between Yoshitsune and his retainer, the warrior-monk Musashibo Benkei, is particularly celebrated in the Noh plays Hashi-Benkei, Funa-Benkei, and Ataka. In all of these Noh the role of Yoshitsune is played by a ko-kata, or child actor. In Ataka the role of Musashibo Benkei is taken by the shite, or main player.

In Ataka, Yoshitsune is trying to escape the unjustified wrath of his elder brother Yoritomo by fleeing to the south with a group of his men who are in the guise of yamabushi, mountain aescetics, led by Benkei. Officials at barrier checkpoints along the way have been warned to be on the lookout for the fugitives. Through the wit and audacity of Benkei they are able to pass at the Ataka Barrier. The high drama of intrigue as the group makes its escape, the loyalty of Benkei which gives him the strength to protect his master at a moment of extreme danger, the sympathy shown by the warden, Togashi, join to make this one of the most dramatic plays of the Noh repertory. The extemporaneous ‘reading’ of the scroll calling for donations, or Kanjincho, is a highlight of the play and the title of the Kabuki variation of this story.

(Rebecca Teele Ogamo)

青蘭能2014_2_表

Download the full program (Japanese) Front Back

The 15th Udaka Seiran Noh

Noh: Hagoromo (banshiki). Shite: UDAKA Tatsushige

Kyogen: Jisenseki  Shite: SHIGEYAMA Shime, Ado: SHIGEYAMA Motohiko
– Intermission –

Noh: Ataka (ennen takinagashi, kai-tsuke kai-date)
Shite: Udaka Michishige

Place: The Kongo Noh Theatre, Nakadachiuri-agaru, Karasuma-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto. 602-0912. Subyway Karasuma-Imadegawa (K06), South Exit (n.6), walk South 300m.

Time: Sunday, 14th September 2014 13:30-17:00 p.m. (doors open at 13:00)

Tickets: center reserved seats 8,000 yen, side reserved seats 6,000 yen, general admission mid-center seats 5,000 yen, student general admission mid-center seats 3,000 yen

Synopses of the plays will be available at the theater in English, French, and Italian.

For information and tickets reservation please use the form below, or contact the Udaka-kai Office c/o Rebecca Teele Ogamo:

TEL: +81 090 9615 0886
FAX :+81 075 722 3668
Email: ogamo-tr@mbox.kyoto-inet.or.jp

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Thoughts on the Kei’un-kai Memorial Performance 2014

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The program board outside the theatre

On August 17th 2014 The Kei’un-kai Memorial Performance, including INI members, took place at the Kongo Noh Theatre in Kyoto. It was a long day, with shimai, rengin, maibayashi and full Noh plays performed  from dawn to dusk.  This year’s performance took place at the end of the o-bon period in Japan, during which people remember and honour the dead. It was an occasion for us performers and for the audience to express gratitude to those who are not with us anymore.

For this purpose, Udaka Michishige has chosen a poem by Henjo (816-890), quoted in the Noh Sumizome-zakura, ‘The Ink-dyed Cherry Tree’. “Everyone is wearing colourful robes, while my mossy sleeves (a monk’s robes) are yet to dry.” Henjo became a priest after the death of Emperor Nimmyo, and the poem expresses the poet’s grief and his reluctance to return to colourful robes after the official time of mourning, though others around him have done so. Udaka Michishige created a calligraphy with the first line of the poem, which you see on the hanging scroll in the picture below.

Rebecca Teele Ogamo. Calligraphy: Udaka Michishige. Kakejiku hanging scroll: Kim Heakyoung.

 The INI Senior Director, Rebecca Teele Ogamo, would like to share the following thought about the performance: ‘It was very special to remember both those we once performed with us as Keiun-kai or INI members and those who have supported us in the past and I think we all felt their warm presence cheering us on. And perhaps they were in “flowery robes” as they watched with nostalgia our struggle with the nerves and doubts that sometimes clouded our vision’.

The INI would like to thank all those who have participated to this performance, and whose help and support motivates us to continue our study and research of Noh.

Noh: Atsumori. Shite: Nagao Atsushi
Noh: Atsumori. Shite: Nagao Atsushi
Noh: Funa Benkei - Shiranami no den. Shite: Higaki Toshifumi
Noh: Funa Benkei – Shiranami no den. Shite: Higaki Toshifumi
Maibayashi: Yamamba. Shite: Tanbara Michiko
Maibayashi: Yamamba. Shite: Tanbara Michiko
Shimai: Hanagatami. Shite: Yoshioka Miki
Shimai: Hanagatami. Shite: Yoshioka Miki
Maibayashi: Tsurukame. Shite: Monique Arnaud
Maibayashi: Tsurukame. Shite: Monique Arnaud
Maibayashi: Toru. Shite: Diego Pellecchia
Maibayashi: Toru. Shite: Diego Pellecchia
Elaine Czech
Elaine Czech

Kei’un-kai Memorial Performance 17 August 2014

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On 17 August 2014 from 9:30am the Kei’un-kai (the group Udaka Michishige’s students, incuding the International Noh Institute) will hold a Memorial Performance at the Kongō Noh Theatre in Kyoto. The performance will begin with two bangai shimai or special feature dance excerpts by masters Taneda Michikazu (Eguchi) and Udaka Michishige (Fujitō), followed by a recitation of an excerpt from the Noh Seigan-ji by Udaka Michishige’s sons, Tatsushige and Norishige. Student performances will begin at 9:50 and will feature a number of shimai, maibayashi and two full Noh plays (from 13:00 Atsumori, Shite: Nagao Atsushi; from 17:00 Funa Benkei, Shite: Higaki Takafumi).

ADMISSION FREE: feel free to come and go quietly. An English synopsis of the program will be available. Download here the full program (Japanese only).

Members of the International Noh Institute will perform the following dances:

Elaine Czech (イレーイン・チェック) shimai: Kochō                          (11:00 group)

Monique Arnaud (モニック・アルノー) maibayashi: Tsurukame      (12:00 group)

Diego Pellecchia (高谷大悟) maibayashi: Tōru                                     (12:00 group)

Rebecca Teele Ogamo (小鴨梨辺華) shimai: Kashiwazaki                  (16:40 group)

Tsuizen Taikai 2014

Kongo Fukyu Noh performance – ‘Aoi-no-ue’ 6 July 2014

The 12th Kongō-ryū Fukyū Noh performance will take place on 6 July 2014 at the Kongo Noh Theatre in Kyoto. This year the Iemoto (grand-master) of the Kongō School, Kongō Hisanori, and his son, Kongō Tatsunori, will share the shite main roles in Aoi-no-ue, a ‘classic’ play that draws from episodes of the Genji Monogatari. In this Noh the spirit of Rokujō no Miyasudokoro, transfigured by jealousy after being rejected by Prince Genji, attacks the woman that has replaced her, Lady Aoi. The Kongō Fukyū Noh is a special event that seeks to disseminate the culture of Noh to the public: non-Japanese students can apply to get a FREE TICKET! 50 free tickets are available, and the deadline is June 23rd. Contact us for information on how to apply.

The 12th Kongō-ryū Fukyū Noh performance

Opening address: Udaka Michishige

Introduction: Wada Akemi

Noh: Aoinoue (mumyō no inori)

Shite: Kongō Hisanori, Kongō Tatsunori; Tsure: Udaka Tatsushige. Waki: Hara Masaru; Wakitsure: Oka Takashi Ai-kyogen: Shigeyama Motohiko. Flute: Morita Yasuyoshi; Shoulder drum: Hayashi Kichibei; Hip drum: Ishii Yasuhiko; Taiko: Maekawa Mitsunori.

Time: 6 July 2014 from 17:00 (doors open at 16:30)

Place: Kongo Noh Theatre, Kyoto. (see map below) Address: Nakadachiuri-agaru, Karasuma-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto. 602-0912 Tel: (075)441-7222 Fax（075）451-1008 Travel directions: Subway Karasuma-Imadegawa (K06), South Exit (n.6), walk South 300m.

Tickets: pre-sale 2,500yen; at the door: 3,000yen.

Fukyu 2014