Noh Theatre Experience: Lecture and Demonstration with Hideta Kitazawa and Miyoko Yoshiya
One of the world’s oldest forms of theatrical performance, Noh theatre is a refined, courtly art characterized by subtle movement and minimal dialogue. Its 14th century origins are syncretic: Chinese music, rural Japanese folk dances, and comic mimicry. Because Noh actors are purposefully restrained in motion, woodcarvers fashioned masks to enable actors to express facial emotions. Similarly, carefully chosen and arduously crafted costumes are essential to the experience of Noh.
Visiting Artisans
Hideta Kitazawa will discuss the centrality of Noh masks to Noh theatre. Using examples of masks that he has created, he will emphasize the relationship of the masks to the characters in a given performance. He will then perform a live demonstration of the technique behind Noh mask making.
Miyoko Yoshiya will explore the role of fabric, costume and design in Noh performances, with a particular emphasis on the patterns utilized in costumes and how they correspond with masks to reinforce a performer's character and identity. She will demonstrate the technique for dyeing fabric for use in Noh costumes.
Additional Speakers
The University of Winnipeg's Dr. Dennis Gupa, Department of Theatre and Film, and Dr. Jeffrey Newmark, East Asian Languages and Cultures/Department of Religion and Culture, will provide analysis on historical and contemporary Noh Theatre.
Dr. Ray Silvius, Department of Political Science, will moderate the event.
About the Artisans
Hideta Kitazawa is a wood sculptor and Noh mask maker based in Tokyo. He learned traditional wood carving of Buddhist and Shinto statuary from his father, Ikkyo Kitazawa, and later studied Noh mask carving. He currently produces classical Noh and Kyogen masks and has been designated a master craftsman by the Tokyo Metropolitan government. KITAZAWA has also created numerous shinsaku - “new” - masks for foreign-language Noh productions, notably those of Theatre Nohgaku, as well as for other Noh-influenced plays. He has given workshops and demonstrations in Japan and internationally, and a book on his work entitled Noh and Kyogen Masks published by Prestel in September 2024.
After graduating from Aoyama Gakuin Women's Junior College with a degree in child education, Miyoko Yoshiya worked at a kindergarten. While working at a kindergarten, she began studying textiles on her own. In 1996, she graduated from Otsuka Textile Design College, and in 1997, she began making 'silk-screened and hand-dyed' cloth felt. Since then, she has been making thin, light, and warm fabrics using natural materials, especially silk and wool. From 1998 to 2005, she won many awards at the Japan Creation Textile Contest, including the Excellence Award and the Division Award. Since 2000, she has held numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Japan. From 1997 to 2014, she was a lecturer at Otsuka Gakuin. She is currently an instructor at Smile Studio TAKANO.
This event has been generously funded by the University of Winnipeg.