Noh Extended Essay

Every culture in the world has its take theater. In japan champion of the most ancient grades of theater is Noh. The Noh theater found its form in the fourteenth century and continues in much the same form, with many an(prenominal) an(prenominal) a nonher(prenominal) of the same leads, in present day Japan. A Noh play portrays one all-encompassing sense dominating the main character, theshite. Whether jealousy, rage, or sorrow, all music, gesture, dance, and practice session be used to build the sense to its final climax at the close of the play. Often the plays depict the return of a historical personage, in spirit or ghostly form, to the site of a significant slip in his or her life.A warrior might return to the battle field, or young woman to the scene of a love affair. According to Buddhism of the fourteenth century, a person could not find spiritual release even aft(prenominal) death if he still possessed a strong emotion or desire. To exorcise this emotion, the warrior might appear in his armor and reanimate the battle in a dance. The dance would reveal his humiliation at suffering defeat. Noh plays are extremely intense. In order to express manything so abstract as an emotion, words are lots inadequate. As the play progresses, then, dance and poetry are used to express the tortured heart.Other elements which open to an intensification of the mood are the bare relief of the stage which allows no misdirection from the main character, and the gorgeous costumes of the main character himself. The stylized movements also sponsor to focus the energy on the emotion rather than on the individual personalities. In Noh as in classical ballet, every movement is choreographed and often symbolic. There is no individual interpretation. Masks are used in many different cultures. In Japan, Noh conceals are used for theatre and dance performances.Each veil represents a certain person, hero, devil, ghost, or legendary animal, depending on what the character is in the performance. As Noh is an art form that utilizes masks, there is a great mannequin of them. There were originally about 60 basic types of noh masks, but now there are well over 200 different kinds in use. Noh promoters feel that the noh mask has a certain power inherent in it which shed light ons it much more spiritual than a prop used to variety ones appearance. Taking into account the status of a certain noh, the noh performer leave carefully choose a noh mask, known also as a noh-men or omote.In most cases, the exact mask is not predetermined, but depending on which noh is be done, the shite has a variety to choose from. In the end, it is up to the shite to make the final determination as to which mask is chosen. barely when the noh mask came into being is not entirely clear however it is believed that masks, and their label still used today, were developed from the mid to latter part of the Muromachi terminus (1392-1573). Previous to that time, the mask conventions were not entirely set and masks themselves had stronger religious connotations.It was during the Muromachi layover that the religious significance of the masks began to wane and they took on more human characteristics. It is popular opinion that as performers started to think more about the use of yugen (mysterious lulu) and profundity, they felt they needful to hide the unattractive aspects of their own faces and concentrate on fashioning the beauty of noh stronger. Between the end of the Muromachi period and the modern age the art of reservation noh masks was established as a hereditary art with a want lineage.Two examples are the Deme family from Echizen (present day Fukui prefecture) and the Iseki family from Ohmi (present day Shiga prefecture). Following the establishment of noh mask making families, the stylization of noh masks significantly advanced. Even today there are many independent mask makers. While some nohgaku performers still make their own m asks, the performance world and the mask-making world are essentially independent of severally other. As it is often difficult to tell the actual feelings expressed in a noh mask, it is said to be made with a neutral expression.The mask carver tries to instill a variety of emotions in the mask. It is up to the performer to imbue the mask with emotion. One of the techniques used in this task is to some tilt the mask up or down. With terasu (tilting upwards) the mask appears to be more or less smiling or laughing and the expression lightens somewhat. While kumorasu (tilting downwards), produces a repulse frown and can express sadness or crying. Basically, by exploitation minute movements, the performer is able to express very fully. Noh masks, like costumes and props, are extremely valuable heirlooms and handed down from generation to generation.After having the costume ready on, the shite then goes to the kagami no ma (mirror room) where in front of a mirror, the shite faces the mask. In putting the mask on, the word kaburu (putting on clothing) is not used. Instead the word kakeru (to hang) or tsukeru (to attach) is used. In this way, it is implying that the performer is becoming the mask, and its emotions, in order to better express the characters feelings. In reality, a noh mask does not entirely cover a noh performers face when it is being worn. In fact, it is thought best if some part of the chin and/or jowls show.Also, as the eye holes of the mask are very small, the field of great deal of the performer is very limited when toiling the mask. Consequently the simple aspiration of the stage and the use of hashira (pillars) assists in helping the performer know their military position during a performance. Not all the main performers on stage wear masks in noh. Usually the shite and the tsure wear masks and occasionally there are instances where the ai will as well. The waki as a rule, playing a character who is living in the present, does not wear a mask. This is called hitamen or a direct mask. However, even without wearing a mask, the performer is meant to make their face a mask. The performer must inject power and emotion into their performance while not using their face to express. In some genzai noh the shite or tsure do not wear masks. Noh performances reflect upon the fooling life and times of the Japanese. An extremely stylized art form which dates arse to the feudal period, the masks used convey the mood and character of the part vie by the performer. Thus, each mask is a manifestation of elegant simplicity and rustic tranquility.