Reading offers unique chance to learn classical Asian theatre
Release Date 19 July 2011
This August, the University of Reading is delighted to be hosting the first Noh Training Project (NTP) in Europe. NTP is a unique two-week workshop offering intensive, performance-based training in the dance, chant, music and performance history of Japanese classical Noh drama.
Noh is one of the oldest continually performed forms of theatre in the world dating from at least the fourteenth century. It is intimately connected to both Japanese Buddhism (particularly Zen) and Shinto religious practices with performances tending to focus on historical, literary or esoteric figures who return to the stage to seek vengeance or salvation.
The Project is open to anyone with an interest in Noh: actors, directors, dancers, musicians, students and academics interested in extending their performance skills are encouraged to apply. The Project will be conducted in English; Japanese language skills are not necessary.
Trainees will be inspired by learning on an actual Noh stage, one of only two in Western Europe, housed in the University's Department of Film, Theatre & Television new state-of-the-art home, the Minghella Building.
Ashley Thorpe from the Department said: "Noh is a wonderful theatre, combing dance, chant, music and mask in a powerful and stately performance requiring intense inner concentration and physical discipline. We are very excited at the prospect of hosting the very first NTP in Europe. The two weeks are open to everyone, from those new to Noh to experienced users of the form.
"NTP will give participants a unique practical, theoretical and philosophical insight Noh, under instruction from a practitioner who has been instrumental in increasing understanding about Noh in the West. We anticipate NTP becoming an annual event at Reading."
NTP was first established by Richard Emmert in Tokyo in 1991, and later, in 1995, in Bloomsburg USA, as an annual workshop to teach Noh in English to both novices and those with some experience of the form. In both Tokyo and Bloomsburg, NTP has become an annual programme leading to an on-going relationship with students.
The Noh Training Project will be held at Reading between 22nd August - 2nd September 2011. For more details visit http://www.reading.ac.uk/ftt/research/ftt-NohTrainingProject.aspx or contact ashley.thorpe@reading.ac.uk
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Notes for Editors:
The University of Reading is one of the UK's top research-intensive universities. The University is ranked in the top 20 UK higher education institutions in securing research council grants worth nearly £10 million from EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, AHRC and BBSRC. In the latest Research Assessment Exercise (2008), over 87% of the University's research was deemed to be of international standing. Areas of particular research strength recognised include meteorology and climate change, typography and graphic design, archaeology, philosophy, food biosciences, construction management, real estate and planning, as well as law.