Monday, Professor Aguas asked us (the Jiu Tai) how we could find artistic creativity in the Utai, or Noh-chant. After all, it is a rigid reading and memorization of a set of words. However, what I thought was: isn't rigidity a facet of Japanese Theatre?
I attribute my job to that of the Tayu, or chanter in Bunraku performances. We saw from the film on Bunraku that the training of Japanese Theatre performers is very strict, and requires a lifetime of dedication - only after learning the rigid coursework would the Tayu find the 'wiggle' room to develop his own style. This is helped by previous Tayu's who guide the apprentice along their way through annotations of the script.Of course, what we are doing is not Bunraku, nor is it the same emotional chanting that the Tayu must replicate. We do not even have the same lifetime of practice that they have the opportunity of experiencing.
Therefore, I believe that the 'creativity' that the Jiu Tai stems from the beauty of doing something correctly, and in your own way. Of course everybody can chant, and do so in their own voice. However, creativity for us stems from the combination of finding our own rhythm (even within a set tempo) as well as our own style. Much of that also depends on the people that we chant for, the actors (Shite, waki, etc) and their actions.
In Bunraku, the puppeteer in the film noted that a puppet's demeanor can be manipulated by changing the angle of the face. We see that even though the shape of the puppet's face cannot intrinsically morph, different emotions emerge from the light angles, and the composure of the puppet. Likewise, I believe that our job is also to manipulate the chant in a way that parallels the emotion displayed by the actors. In this way, like the Tayu and the Ningyotsukai working together to portray a character. The Jiu Tai must work with the Shite - chanting the reflection of their emotional state.
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