Embracing the Cycle

The presence of ritual and religion upon the stage is something I feel to be very powerful and effective as a means of performance. While reading "Shango de Ima" I constantly observed parallels between the human characteristics of the Roman gods and the different Orishas present in Shango… I find spiritual and existential truth within this play because it acknowledges the duality of life that enables perception.

Obatala: And this compliance will be your punishment, Shango de Ima. The joy which makes suffering possible, the birth which leads to death will be your punishment and the punishment of all men… (Carril, 89; passage from "Shango de Ima")

I grew up Christian and fell in love with the concepts of different Eastern philosophies as I studied at the University of Kentucky. Although I now claim no specific religion outside of my own perceived spirituality, I still linger closest to Christianity due to my respect for the religion’s commitment to forgiveness… But its dependence upon the idea that Heaven and Hell are punishments outside of this realm drove me to seek other concepts and beliefs. Heaven and Hell exist in this realm on Earth; they are conditions of mind, or physicality, or any form that can be perceived as pain or joy, suffering or pleasure.

In observing Shango’s interactions with the other characters of the play, I see the possibilities and consequences of life’s choices unfold. I see how the joys and pains he experiences bring forth a greater consciousness that most fully justifies a meaningful existence. We should choose to live life over and over again, with all the suffering and happiness, because it is through this journey that all things come to existence… all things can be seen. The cycle of knowing and then not-knowing, of birth and death, is that which humans are caught within… My only concern is that Obatala seems to only view life as the eternal punishment that man must face… Is it not also the great reward?

Theatre Seeking Spirituality

As evolution continues to gain prevalence in the minds of many around the globe and science and faith begin down a path that remains open to intersection, a new enlightened spiritualism has taken up the occupancy of my thoughts.

Jah Orisha: Son, your Gods are what you make them. Gods answer the names that you give them. It’s the power you have, son. To name, even your Gods! Don’t give up that power. Don’t give up that glory to name and create your own world.
Traveler-X: What? Did I hear you right? Did you say power to create my world? But I have no such power! (Onwueme, 20)

As I’ve come into adulthood over the past decade I have found myself disconnected from the religious traditions and ideas I grew up with. The world of theatre has become a place to question and pursue a new definition for spirituality and enlightenment in my life. Tess Onwueme’s "Riot in Heaven" has given rise to a new sense of power in my being. God(s) have always been the object of human worship, praise, and justification, yet how often do we acknowledge our own role/power in creating the God’s/Gods’ status? This is precisely what the above selection forced me to confront, and I realized that something I’ve begun to believe resonates boldly in the above passage from "Riot in Heaven."

We are not created in the image of God, but as God, here in this realm called the Universe. With both the power to create and destroy life, as well as give shape to that which we experience in our consciousness by naming, we can no longer lead an existence that releases responsibility to something we’ve named ourselves – God.

God exists within each and every creature of the universe – it is energy. Our study of Yoruba culture and performance makes me feel less awkward about the crazy improvisational movements I do to music in the privacy of my home that I claim to be exercise/aerobics. It’s expression. It’s me getting out that which is within…

We live a spiral existence, infinitely continuing along a path that we call time… yet indeed time does not exist. No past or future, only present choices that shape the now. This is where I wish to live, instead of a distant future. How could releasing the idea of an external God(s) encourage the citizens of planet Earth to take greater responsibility for their lives and choices? The path of one is the path of many, and we must see the importance of global community – theatre can help us to create that unity.

Suzuki, Shingeki, and Western Theatre

The way Japanese Theatre has evolved over the years is a very interesting global theatre discussion. The chapters we read for class today took us, as reads, comprehensively through the journey of modern Japanese Theatre. For me, the most interesting aspect of the reading was the Japanese desire for a more westernized theatre, its reception, the actual works theatre artists like Osanai and Suzuki produced, and the ways in which they challenged traditional Japanese Theatre practices.

The article opens up with a short anecdote about the Japanese Theatre artist Osanai and his desire to explore and produce realistic plays based on the work Stanislavski was doing at the Moscow Art Theatre. Osanai’s theatre, Shingeki admired, “the dramaturgy based on the dialectics of conflicting powers, the acting style aimed at the life like portrayal of individual characters…and the underlying assumption that the ultimate standard of reality is logical explicability. His travels to Russia allowed him to study Stanislavski and bring those methods back to Japan and in turn a brand new way of approaching theatre gave birth to a new Japanese theatre movement.

Suzuki jumped on this boat when he started producing theatre in mid-twentieth century. His early adaptations of plays like Macbeth, Death of a Salesman, and The Trojan Women had mixed reviews. However his merging of the traditional Kabuki with Realism gave way to a new “collage” theatre form that was widely received earned him the attention of the International theatre community.

As far as Global theatre is concerned Suzuki’s efforts are truly monumental. He found an interesting way to blend tradition Japanese theatre styles with a westernized theatre approach making him, in my opinion, the essence of what a global theatre artist should be. His efforts have helped to bridge the gaps between theatre styles from two completely different cultures and uses aspects of both to create a new. If we want to be successful “global” theatre artists we have to steal a page from his book and challenge ourselves to bridge gaps between more and more cultures.

Yellowface?

The goal of this class is to make us global theatre practitioners. One the best ways we can do this is by performing of producing plays from other cultures. The question that always has to be asked before a project is started is; who can perform this play? For today’s class we read Kanjincho. The question I ask is how would this play read if it was done by a typical American university?

This university, like most in the twenty-first century, prides itself on diversity. So it is very practical that in an effort to expand its ideas of theatre, said universities would want to produce, for example, a Kabuki play. We can assume that the university will have the means and money to acquire the sets, costumes, and properties to produce a Kabuki play, but would they have tradition? What I mean when I ask this question is even though an American university has the means to produce a Kabuki play does it have the same effect when the actors and design team are not trained in Kabuki like the Japanese traditionally are?

These questions bombarded my mind as I read this play because I worked make-up crew for a Kabuki play at Western Illinois University while completing my undergraduate degree. There were a number of things that I noticed about Kanjincho that I did not see in Samurai( WIU’s kabuki production).

The differences that stand out are the movement of the actors, the set, the chorus, and the ritual in starting the play. The stage directions take the reader through the ritual done by the orchestra and stage manager to signal the beginning of the play. Wiu’s production did not have this. The very precise movement of the actors was lost and it has to be assumed because they did not have the proper training. There was not chorus or orchestra which tells me that the director cut them. And lastly the set lacked the curtains and other Kabuki elements established by Kanjincho.

It may not be fair to take one random university and use it to define how any other university would approach Kabuki, but why not? American theatre programs have differences that range from subtle to drastic but are all victims of the westernized we and thinking and approaching theatre. When it comes to Kabuki in the American university, maybe it should be studied more and performed less.

Who???

In this class we have asked a number of questions about global theatre in an effort to better understand how to approach it. One of the questions we asked was who can do what? The article we read for class today was about a British man who has devoted his life to the Beijing Opera. As far as Chinese theatre and the Beijing Opera are concerned, can this man be considered a legitimate Chinese theatre artist because he is not of Chinese decent?

In this particular case the answer is a resounding yes! This man is not you every day theatre practitioner longing to find a generic way to add diversity to his craft. Ghaffar Pourazar has devoted his life to the Beijing Opera. He trained at a Beijing Opera school for five years to perfect his craft. “Pourazar spent five years undergoing punishing training at a school so dirty he describes it as a big toilet. He was decades older than the other students, and he tested his body on a daily basis, starting at dawn with unbelievably painful contortions.”

The way Pourazar approaches global theatre is a way we could all learn from. If we want to feel closer to art forms and cultures other than our own we have to find ways to get firsthand experience with those art forms. Waking up one day and deciding that you want to perform Chinese theatre is one thing, but actually taking the time to train like traditional Beijing Opera performers is another. Although it is not realistic for regular theatre artist to pack up and spend five or so years of their lives training for Beijing Opera, the idea that putting yourself in to someone else’s shoes to experience their art form the way they meant it to be experienced is priceless.

Viewpoints

The best thing about the view points workshop is that it pulls you out of your left brain. It gives you the structure to create and then there is nothing left to do than to just do it. As a beginning actor one of the major notes I received on a regular basis was that I was in my head to much and not in my body. Viewpoints allows the performer to get in her body. I liken it to being a painter but your body is the brush and the stage is the canvas. The tempo, topography, architecture and other components are the medium for the creation.
Spatial relationship and architecture have a profound impact on me. I believe I experience the most dramatic energy shifts when I change spatial relationship and architecture. I am not even really sure why it is. I just know if I put myself close to the audience, close to other actors, or away from the audience or other actors the mood shifts. The relationships shifts . How I feel about other actors and how I feel other actors feel about me are influenced through my spatial relationship.
Architecture feels the most like child’s play and that may be why I enjoy it so much. As a young one I was told countless times “Don’t stand in the chair. Don’t play on the railing. Don’t climb that pole.” Well using the viewpoint of architecture I can do all of those things and more and it is considered art. There is a lot of power through the play of architecture. One major reason I like architecture so much is because I can affect height really dramatically through changing architecture.

When Your Body is the Vessel of Art

I recently had a conversation with a modern dancer who also practices belly dancing. I asked her in what style she concentrates: Turkish or Egyptian. She stated that she basically studies the fundamentals of the different styles and has created a style that is specifically her own. She said as an American she would never be an expert on Turkish, Egyptian or any other form of belly dancing. The dancing has become something new because her American body is the medium through which this dance is created. With this understanding she has abandoned the concept of trying to emulate a specific Turkish or Egyptian style.
This conversation reminded of some points made in “Indigenous Bodies and Contested Texts” When the indigenous population took on the dramas of the Catholic plays the plays were transformed from the original intentions of the Spaniards. That transformation makes me believe that the art is truly in the hands of the performer. Within theatre hierarchy one can only hold the playwright as the highest point if that playwright’s words are being interpreted through performers with the same interpretation of the world as he. The performer of a different culture takes the text and transforms it. This transformation may be intentional or unintentional.
I believe that the merger of the different cultures’ art through the performers is the very height of creativity. A new art form that is neither old world or new world is born and this is the soul of art. No idea is ever independent of each other and so the creation of new forms from merging of cultures is a very significant phenomenon.

Rethinking Ingendismo When Cultures Clash

In Garro’s La dama boba the concept of the less sophisticated and superstitious indigenous person is confronted. When Lupe’s father mistakes the actor Francisco as a real life teacher, the initial reaction of many is of that the people of Tepan are infantile and backwards in their beliefs. In Indigenous Bodies Conested Texts it say
“Garro deftly exposes the nationalist illogic underlying indigenismo by linking it to the still unresolved question of indigenous self-representation. For the cultural emissaries in the play, the indigenous communities exist as people to be acted upon; when these people act, as does the mayor the mayor of Tepan, they may as well not exist for all the attention they get. But they are not powerless as illustrated through the figure of Lupe. “(p35)

I think La dama boba reacts to the phenomenon of when the oppressor takes a paternalistic view of the oppressed. In the indigenismo genre of literature the Indians were shown in a sympathetic light and injustices were criticized. In La dama boba the clash of the two worlds is more sharply illustrated. However the convergence of the two worlds is represented in the character of Lupe. Through Lupe’s direct access to the system of the Mexican state through Francisco she can see clearly short comings of the city and the rural world views.
As Lupe is able to live in the duality of the indigenous world view and the urban world view we see the acceptance of the various approaches to viewing the universe. The play provides a scenario where neither form is rejected or elevated. This phenomenon is important when different concepts of the world collide.

The Revolution of Suzuki:

In Takahashi Yasunari’s “Suzuki’s Work in the Context of Japanese Theatre” he discusses Suzuki’s . He states how
“Suzuki also drew much of his nourishment from the traditional popular theatre forms of Japan. No other director has learned and stolen so much from Noh and Kabuki, and certainly none has utilized so effectively the popular folk songs (enka) which have entered the mechanism of the psyche of the nonelitist Japanese populist. (Yasunari p 3).

Suzuki honored the traditions of Noh theatre and Kabuki theatre as well as the influences of Western theatre to create a new art form. I believe that this method is truly the basis for innovative theatre. I think theatre that does not acknowledge and borrow from the traditions of the artists and the legacy that artist inherits will not have a lot of resonance. This need to embrace our old customs and traditions and yet move on to the next new thing is a very big battle in America. Creative expression is very much like procreation. The genes of my most ancient ancestors are still in me and will be passed on even to my children. My point is that it is prudent for all artist who wish to be innovative to first examine and embrace the legacy of their artistic traditions.
Yasunari’s also states that Suzuki also subversively undermined the priority of the written text at the top of the theatrical pyramid. Yasunari asserts that Suzuki “triumphantly succeeded in transferring the priority from the text to the actor.” (Yasunari p3) With the power in the actor a revolution has taken place with Suzuki. This revolution embraces the past but also acknowledges that the power for the play is within the hands of the actor.

Comments on what makes a play an African American Play

When Lorraine Hansberry commented on her masterpiece A Raisin in the Sun she commented that her play was an American story as opposed to an African American story. The basis for this assertion rests in the fact that most of the family in this play could have been Italian, Polish or Spanish and the play still would have worked. There is something distinctly American about the struggle for upward mobility. The problem I have with this assert is the implication that the African American experience is divorced from the American experience. This idea leads to the question of what makes art specifically African American.
Bill T Jones stated that no matter the form or style of the art he does it is black art because the artist is black. There is a universal language in art that does allow forms and styles to be adopted by people other than those who originated it. This story about an American family struggle to get ahead is told through realism. The style of realism may be why the play was so well received. If the same story had been told through the style of Yoruba performance ritual or Noh theatre would it have worked for American audiences? In the 1950s the play probably would not have been as well received or well understood had it been told in a style deemed more “ethnic”. I contend that Lorraine Hansberry choice to tell this story through realism is very justified.
First off, what is an African American style? Not all African Americans are Yoruba descendents so that is not our style. Also, let us not deny the affect the African American culture has had on the larger culture as a whole. Therefore, any American style or story is by its very nature part African American due to African American influence in this culture.
Lorraine Hansberry had no need to describe her story as an “American” story. Any African American story will be an American story. Most of the struggles of African Americans have their roots in class struggles which cross race lines.

Urban Bush Women

A while ago I commented on the fact that in the United States there is a greater segregation of discipline in performance art than in other countries. Particularly theatre performance will often be very separated from dance and music. The times when these disciplines are merged will in the United States will only be with musical theatre. For those theatre artists like myself who consider themselves dancers and singers studying “drama” will often feel like we are only using a percentage of our performance ability as opposed to the entire realm of our capability.
What I enjoyed most about the Urban Bush Women documentary was that the drama was in the dance performance. The body was the vessel through which the story was told. As an African American performer the use of movements to accentuate hips, behinds and the fluid spine was a sort of affirmation of the feminine form as an art medium. What I really enjoyed is that the Urban Bush Women appears to be a reaction against the discrimination within the more “European” schools of dance. By this reaction I am referring to the body model that has smaller hips and curves. I also refer to the body posture where one has to keep the spine long and straight as opposed to allowing fluidity with the movement.
As an artists that has a hard time fitting into a specific “type” the Urban Bush Women inspired me to develop art based on my own personal experience and culture.

The Power of Performance Ethnography

My personal attraction to oral histories really made me very attracted to the idea of performance ethnography as described by Joni L Jones in her “The Role of Embodiment in Cultural Authenticity. In this article Jones admonishes the principals for greater understanding of the performance. First, “the performance should center around an idea or a question rather than provide a general ‘you are there’ atmosphere.” (Jones, p8) Second,”the performance should grow as a collaboration between the ethnographer and the community being presented. In this way the ethnographer remains accountable to her or his fieldwork community’ (Ibid.)
I think the concept of performance ethnography can work even for divergent worlds physically close to that. I am referring to marginalized groups such as the poor, refugees, etc. I think performance ethnography could place the spectator in the middle of worlds that are often ignored.
Among the other tenants of performance ethnography Jones admonishes she cites the need for participation. ‘Participation differentiates performance ethnography from other forms of documentation and representation, and allows performance ethnography to take advantage of its live nature.”(Jones p 10). My question is could performance ethnography be displayed through a more ‘traditional” theatrical performance as opposed to an installation as Jones did? Could the performance have not only a central question but a plot and a through line? Could the audience still need to have the same level of participation if they were observing the story or would the onus be on the audience to participate in the story?

The Other and Post Colonial Theory

When first reading The Other I was thinking the concept was a basic thought about one needs the other to “be.” For example you can’t have darkness without light, good without bad, men without women, me without you and some even say gay without the straight.

Later it occurred to me that it’s just not that simple. It seems to me the Other is quite a heavy thought. It is also not a very positive one either. It is much closer to why we have imperialism, racism, colonialism, and even fascism. The Other is what many see in themselves as the weak part, what they wish they could be better at or nothing like at all. It is also the fear of the unknown, many times you will read about hate crimes and in those cases the perpetrator will say they did it because the Other person was different, or they didn’t like the way they looked or even behaved.

In some places where not much is known of the other, he one culture will make up what they do not understand causing stereotypes and soon hatred of the same. However, it is these differences that make up many cultures and countries. In the end, there will never be one without the Other.

As for the reading of Post Colonial Theory I see two sides, those for the integration of east and west and those who are not. Primarily many theatrical folks are for the two to be joined together as in Cesaire’s A Tempest and Sojinka’s The Bacchae of Euripides. However, it seems the problem lies more in the reception of the piece not just on the textual level. In Cesaire’s A Tempest the ending is changed, having Prospero remain on the island fighting with Caliban for control of the Island. He also bills the play as an “Adaptation for a black Theatre”, casting only black actors for the run. Doing so changed all original thought and percussions of the play which many were surely missed or even lost by the changes, but dually, new thoughts and struggles are brought to the surface.

A second thing I noticed is the theatre being used for teaching or in this case “pedagogy.” Augusto Boal applied what he learned from Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and used it with his work. His book breaks down many of Brecht’s “Aristotelian Theatre” concepts saying the audience should be able to think for itself. He even went so far as to lead actors in an “invisible theatre” where they would stage specific things in public to arouse a discussion from the crowds. For example, a loud person would order a meal in a busy restaurant then tell the waiter he could not pay for it, having other actors speak out for and against the customer, meanwhile gaining interest with the public speaking out on what they thought was right or wrong, not knowing the entire thing was staged just to elicit a response.

It can be said that the time we live in now is an exciting time to be in the theatre. You can do almost anything and be almost anyone. I believe without the Other or Colonization of many places (although I don’t believe in how many of these places were colonized) we would not have learned of the many cultures in this world. I am of the belief the more you know the richer you are.

Performance Ethnography: The Role of Embodiment in Cultural Authenticity

When studying performance ethnography one has to ask the question, is it a stereotype or authentic field work? What is the Identity of the performer? This performance was far from stereotypical. The group from Austin not only brought what they learned and knew from the Yoruba culture but incorporated film, photos and food directly from Yoruba. During one of the performances a woman from the community joined in during the dance and later was found to be a Yoruba woman now living in Austin.

Self-conscious about their work and accents, the actors were afraid the work was flat and poorly executed. Many would think their work pales when placed next to the real thing. This can be found in a lot of art and performances. While watching the Anna Deavere Smith videos, she performs a Jewish woman who is distraught during the race riots in the 90s when a Hasidic Jew accidently runs down a black child in NY. The woman goes on record stating she doesn’t talk that way and doesn’t act like that, however she may feel about the impression of her, Ms. Deavere Smith sounded exactly like her. Some people are quite sensitive about who and what they are and cannot see the other side. I do applaud Anna for listening to the woman and taking her concerns into account. Is she accountable for using this work after hearing from the disgruntled woman? I feel it’s her work and can use it however she wants. It is far from malicious and nothing was said in a demeaning manor. It was performed in a matter of fact way, representing the words of a person speaking during a time of trouble.

It all comes down to subjectivity and what we choose to portray and promote. The group in Austin did an amazing job at sharing what they learned and how to portray the Yoruba culture in a positive light. This production has quite the Brechtian feel to it. What I mean by that is we see the films of the true folks of Nigeria while the actors are mimicking and re-enacting what is on screen. We also see the actors in the halls and not in a true setting. We know it is a re-creation of something real, but performed in an open and accessible way. We are not in Yoruba, the actors are just that, actors, but there is authentic artwork and films to ground you in your participation. This is very much a Yoruba “street scene”.

Shango De Ima

Of all the Yoruba plays read so far, this is the first not written in English, originally written in Spanish this is a translation for the La Mama Dance Company. This play differs most from the others in that it is a religious play and is meant to be followed as such as much as possible. With the specificity in the actions one can only feel that this is the main reason of having the rituals in the play.

Costumes are of great importance to this play in that the gods have certain colors that are traditionally used and should not be changed. For example, Oshun is in yellow, Ogun Arere is in green and black with Obatala-Mother in White. Visually this play must be a tremendous challenge to take on, especially when Obatala turns into a man and then a dove in flight. I would guess with a dance company this could be done more so in movement and metaphor than say a play has to do it physically.

Music and dance are a large part of this play, with a ritual dance and chant starting each scene. Throughout the play some Gods have been given their own sounds. Iku the spirit of death has a rattle like sound which permeates many of the scenes long after he has left the stage.

Giving this to a dance troupe opposed to an acting troupe is by far the smartest thing they could have done. When I think of rituals and ceremonies, music and movement are in the forefront. Western churches have grown so much in the last 20 years. More groups have small bands and large choirs for ritual songs and some like the southern Baptists often dance in the aisles.

Many people say actions are stronger than words and considering this play was done with a dance troupe many actions stand out more than the words. Some of the important actions that stick out to me were:
• Obatala, furious, erases the light.
• Iku, invisible, arranges for a beam of wood to appear within reach of Agayu.
• Iku, laughs with pleasure after Agayu beats Shango.
• Agayu leaves Shango to burn in the bonfire.
• The child Shango crosses the rays of the sun and is changed into a man.
• Shango passes his body through a burning flame
• Shango transforms into a bolt of fire.
• Shango removes his gown and taunts Ogun with his sex.
• Shango sleeping with his mother Yemaya.
As you can see, within this play there is a lot of action not spoken but shown by the actors/dancers.

With this play being a religious play you do have to ask, how much of the rituals are done to represent the ritual or how much are they produced to be the actual ritual? You will find in a small note on the first page that says “Although Elegua is not personified in this play, he is mentioned many times, and as the mediator between the gods and man, all sacred ceremonies must begin with a chant to him.” In my opinion the rituals are meant to be reproduced as real as possible but, performing this in New York, who would really know besides the actors and maybe a handful of people these were religious rituals? One has to even ask, why bring this to NY? Is it because Broadway is a place to introduce Americans to other cultures more so than a small town theatre? Would this particular production work on tour if given the opportunity to do so? I personally think it would hold its own in larger cities, but most Americans don’t often take comfort in things they are unfamiliar with.

Kabuki in the west

Leave it to the bawds and the knaves to take a highly sophisticated theatre style and make it their own. You can see the remnants of the traditional Noh theatre in Kabuki. Some differences are the curtain and walkways (hanamichi) that leads out through the audience opposed to Noh’s walkway that ran up the top of stage right leading to the makeup room.

One thing that is surprising is that Kabuki was started by a woman in the 17th century by the name of Okuni. Eventually just like Shakespeare, men were the only ones allowed to perform and young attractive boys and women were cut from the list of performers because the audience would tend to “commune” with the actors. The Shogunate started to clamp down on the prostitution and forced most groups to perform more traditional fair. I find this very fascinating because almost all of the work we studied prior to this date was always performed by men. Yoruba ritual is rich with female performers and I would find it very difficult to understand it with only men performers.

Having to read an English translation of Kanjincho built and designed for English speaking actors and then seeing a traditional performance of it gives a whole new level of artistry to the art form. What we western performers get and perform is a mere fraction of what is entailed in performing Kabuki. The translators do a good job at giving you a lot of what is needed in the performance, but without the actual language, traditional space, true musicians and singers I believe our performances pale in comparison. What we bring to the table is a small understanding of the piece. Their actors train for years perfecting gestures, lines, facial expressions, costume work and props. An American production in a general theatre or educational theatre only allows a short time for rehearsals and you may find a specialist who could lead you but you are far from a Kabuki performer. Western performances of Kabuki are mere reflections of a difficult and intricate art form. We do it merely for entertainment and to sometimes put a spin on something old and in need of something fresh.

For example, my senior year in College we performed a Kabuki version of the Emperor’s New Clothes. I thought that was everything you needed to know about it. Our costumes were all handmade, we had the traditional characters including the stage hands, and we even had music. However, the music was canned and we did not have much singing or traditional movement. When it was all said and done, I thought it was a wonderful production, but now some 12 years later and after seeing true Kabuki performers our work definitely paled in comparison.

In the dark with Butoh

“If there is love in your soul, your body will present it.” This is one of the many things that stuck out to me while watching the Butoh film. The work that was displayed was alarming, graphic, alluring, poignant, and dark. I can’t imagine the rehearsal and struggle that must be done to grasp this art. The dedication the dancers showed was amazing and scary at the same time.

I do wonder how much of this work is improvisation and how much is it based on set moves? Sometimes the work is so fluid it seems set, yet when a group is performing together you can see individuals at different paces and heights. They speak of choreographers throughout, but it feels so improvisational.

This art form seems very communal and cultish to me, not judging, just pointing out that many of the groups that perform Butoh seem to live together in small, tight quarters. One point in the film the women mention they all go by the same name, Ashi kahva (I think), so no one person is better or above another. Those who do this work seem extremely dedicated, yet not all of them are trained dancers. There was one dancer who was an actual painter that Hijikata preferred to work with.

If this is a communal art form can we then say all theatre globally is communal to some extent? The Yoruba dance in the streets bringing it to the community, with some joining in for the pure delight of it. I’ve even been to musicals where the audience has sung along with the cast. If this is not communal, what is?

I can see how this form of dance generated a negative backlash when introduced after the war. With the stiff non-fluid, nontraditional movements and dark internal thoughts, many were not receptive to this new form. I can see some basic movements from Kabuki and Noh theatres. The use of all body paint and no clothes is I’m sure a huge blow to the traditionalist. I think it adds to the bleak and darkness of the work. In particular, I liked the piece in which four men are completely covered in full white body paint except for their fingers, which were painted red, and they were holding a large mirror which was reflecting a man dancing in it. However, that man was fully clothed and if memory serves was also wearing jewelry. So what does this say? In one way I see how we work our fingers bloody for merely materialistic purposes and the use of the mirror is to show us we don’t see it unless it is forced upon us.

As an actor I can see how the dedication and use of this form of dance could heighten my work. Having a better understanding of one’s body can only benefit one’s work. We in the west do not train as long or as hard as many eastern cultures but does that mean our work is less successful? As was stated early on in the film “Everyone has 50% darkness in them.” I truly believe to really understand and embrace this form of movement you need to accept that 50% of darkness.

Actors: The American Geisha

"A geisha contains art within herself, and because her body is this art, her life is saved. That is the power of art---salvation of the soul," says Mayumi, a geisha interviewed in the book Geisha: The Life, The Voices, The Art by Jodie Cobb. Because I feel like I wasn't able to really indulge into the artistry of Geishas in my presentation, I thought I would write a blog about it. The Geisha is the face of Japan, one of the most recognizable images in the world. But the actual role of the geisha is quite misunderstood. I had always assumed that a geisha was just a high class prostitute. However, as I read more about them and their lifestyle, I realize this is a huge misconception. "A man becomes a geisha's patron as a secondhand way of acquiring art. He just acquires the person who performs the art," says Mayumi. Geisha's are in fact bought, and some of their clients do engage in sexual intercourse with them, but they are not seen as prostitutes. Rather, they are trained to be seen as pieces of art. Training begins at a very early age and the success of their training is correlated to the success of their lives. If a geisha is trained well in dance, music, literature, and overall entertaining, she will most likely be sponsored by a wealthier man.

As I studied more about their lifestyles, I couldn't help by compare their lives to the lives of contemporary American actors. While we are not trained as pieces of artwork, we are striving for as much training as we can in order to prosper in careers. We are all now at a point in our careers where acting has turned from a fun past-time to a career. Unlike many other occupations, a career in acting can easily alter many other life-decisions including relationship choices, what city to live in, and even what to do to our bodies. There have been many times I wanted a hair cut but opted out in fear it might hurt my chances at an audition. This seems silly to my non-theatre friends, but many other actors have made similar compromising decisions. While the life of a geisha is more intense in those decisions, there are similarities. Actors themselves have had a history of prostitution, and in a way, we still sell ourselves to the highest bidder and the best job.

I also wanted to post this video. It is from a Mad TV sketch satirizing Memoirs of a Geisha. The ideas in this sketch come two-fold, because traditionally men play women onstage in Japanese theatre (the onagata) and in Japan there is nothing unusual about this. However, in America, a man playing a woman is usually connected directly with comedy.

Mad TV Sketch

Bad Translation=Bad Play?

Having now studied Aoi No Uye by Zeami for a second time, I recall the same points of interest I held before. When I first read the play, I recall the translation aggravated me because there were so much mixed religious imagery involved. But now reading it from the point of a “global theatre,” I think the mixed imagery is pretty clever. The play is filled with spirituality through the basic plot line of a haunting ghost. There are references to witches, Buddhism, the rosary, saints, holy water of Yoga, scriptures, an exorcism, and demons. With this bizarre mix of religious and spiritual imagery, it seems the main goal of the characters is to simply get rid of Rokujo and her fierce disruptive jealousy in order to restore harmony. I would like to make the argument that the base of most of the spiritual practices is to restore harmony as well. It's as though the play uses many different tools in hopes of restoring harmony. Obviously this inaccuracy of imagery comes from a poor translation and this could be potentially misleading and mis-educating to a contemporary audience, but I understand the choices of mixing familiar Western and European religious imagery with a traditional Japanese spiritual practice to make the play more accessible to Westerners--- remembering also it was translated in early 1900s. If this was a contemporary translation I would have expected the translation to be more authentic and true to the original. But I note that this is when Noh theatre was first introduced to an American audience and translators probably understood the need to have some familiarity in order to deflect a backlash. At least that's my guess.

Also, to take into consideration, I found a website about Aoi No Uye which gives some backgound information. We know the story is taken from the novel The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki Shikibu, which was the started novel for many Noh plays. In the story, Prince Genji was married to Princess Aoi when he was only twelve. They lived separately when the were younger, and when Genji was sixteen he fell in love with Rokujo, who was eight years his elder. But he was not faithful to her either, and took another lover. That lover was supposedly ripped out of her bed by Rokujo while she was sleeping. Now knowing this, the jealousy of Rokujo is emphasized even more. Genji is reunited with Aoi. She later runs her carriage into Rokujo's carriage, (Rokujo's carriage was blocking hers) and there is a fight amongst the servents. Aoi's servants win the scuffle, but soon after she is taken ill and this is the beginning of the play. Just in terms of emotional connection, I might understand why Rokujo's spirit was so upset.

http://etext.virginia.edu/japanese/noh/WalAoin.html

Western vs. Global Art

Is the term “Global Theatre” predicate on the concept that anything other than “Western” is “other” and that there is Western theatre and then all others? For Westerners, yes to a certain degree since we do live in the Western world, are being trained in a distinctly Western theatre tradition, and will most likely work in that tradition. Yes, we will see non-Western theatre as “other.” We certainly have the ability and freedom to try any type of experimentation with our own theatrical endeavors but if we are to make money from other theatre producers, particularly mainstream ones, then we will work in a Western tradition.
In the same vein, students and artists in non-Western cultures have their traditions at their fingertips. Yoruba rituals, Beijing Opera, and Noh theatre have not had the heart and soul of the art form altered by exposure to Western theatre artists-staging techniques such as lights and other accoutrement perhaps but not the cultural heart and soul. Japanese national culture has, of course, been drastically affected by the Western infusion that occurred in post-World War II. Butoh is a direct reaction to that cultural interference and even a reaction to its own artistic heritage. Noh was developed as a courtly art so perhaps the reaction we see is as much about class as national identity.
We, as responsible and open hearted artists, need to be able to see the storytelling within other art forms and be able to be influenced and borrow from those aesthetics. As long as we are constantly cognizant of our egocentrism (and all human beings are capable of self-centeredness and cultural supremacy) we can at least try to look at these other ways of expressing the human story as on an even keel.
We are global citizens and should be as concerned for the state of human relations in Nigeria, China, Iran, Venezuela, and Louisville. Whatever of value we take from all the art forms we will encounter in our own artistic journeys we must be able to reach the audience we intend to reach, whether that is a group of manual laborers needing to take charge of their own destiny or Broadway producers.

Are Ghost Stories Universal?

In many ways Aoi No Uye is the most challenging play we’ve read. Still, perhaps we can take the idea of sprits or ghosts coming into our material world as a specific tool for global story-telling. This does seem to be something that occurs in the cultures and theatre we’ve looked at thus far. Yoruba ritual sees the spiritual world as intertwined with this material world. Both the Chinese play Snow in Midsummer and this Noh play use a ghostly encounter to propel the plot or provide the heart of the story’s dramatic conflict.
While we in the Western world do not culturally agree across that board that ghosts are an actual phenomenon, we all love a good ghost story and the idea of a ghost bringing vengeance or retribution to the living is certainly compelling. Shakespeare has used this to great and famous effect. This idea of a spirit returning to compel a person to do something or actually interfere in or adversely affect another’s life is obviously an effective plot device even for those of us who may not believe in ghosts. How could we use this? Maybe this is a red herring on my part. How do various cultures view "ghosts"?
As for the challenging aspect of this play, it is episodic. Similar to Mephisto it is a small story in itself but does not give enough exposition to make an individual audience member feel sympathy for either the non-present Princess Hollycock or Princess Rokujo. The latter seems to have some wrong to avenge but without the background given in the introduction she comes across as just a mere evil spirit with no compelling motivation. The conflict between her and the Saint is obvious but who should we root for? Or should we always root for a protagonist? Does there always need to be a protagonist or antagonist? Can we create a compelling and explorative piece of theatre without these character types?

My Exploration Of Nigeria

One factor that stood out in researching the culture/arts facts about Nigeria was how music and performance has been used throughout centuries to evoke social change. When watching the short film"Binta and the Great Idea," it was interesting to see how this African village used theatre as a means to show Soda's father how times have changed. In some ways it reminded me of any episode you would see on Nicklodean or The Disney Channel. Young students put together a play to convince a parent to change their view about someting. Only this wasnt California, they didnt have an elaborate set to extreme for the world of school age students. This piece showed you vivid aspects of the community. The mud homes, the illiteracy of the parents and the cycles that keep these situations the norm. The same revelations were discovered when researching Fela Kuti. It was important for me to identify an artist who had an impact on the culure. His anti-government messages were embraced my Nigerians of a lower class. His creation of his own political party to empower the people caused a change in their perspective and view of how Nigeria could be run. His music is loaded with the pain, struggles and hopes that he experienced in his community. How remarkable twelve years after his death, the magic of theatre is used to continue to spread his message. It mystifies audiences using engaging aesthetics to educate and inspire.

This type of expression transcends race and can be obsered in every culture. We can put whatever title on it that we want. I believe its greater than a label or category. It's the means by which social injustices are told so that the affects resonate in every part of your being. It's listening, seeing, experiencing that subject through a myriad of lenses. It's an expression that will only get stronger as more media outlets arise for it to be seen and embraced.

Ethnography

Some artists often struggle to find the truth of a character when performing. They want the audience to observe an authentic, open perspective of a human experience. Ethnography allows one to dive completely into another culture to illumnate the hearts of its beliefs. Providing material for the five senses heighten the audience's connection. When reading the article by Joni Jones, I vividly could imagine how each area may have been set up. Providing food, dance, colors, pictures , clothes sparks an interest and curiousity to those who had no prior knowledge,

While I believe artist who choose to perform these pieces may have a desire to present the information in its purest form, how often is it percieved that way? When interviewing my subject for my project in class, I asked her if she would like to come and be active in the presentation. She agreed to it and I thought it would be great for her to come so people could ask questions. I then remembered that a portion of the project had to be ELP work. I quickly changed the idea due to the fear she would not percieve my interpretation of her voice, mannerism and dialect as flattering. I was uneasy about the possibility of creating a caricature or painting a picture of her home that was undesirable, despite the fact that I was only using information that I had researched and recieved from her. This fear creates a whole new level of performance anxiety that does not have to be considered negative. On one hand it makes the artist do the homework to ensure the work is free from bias and is pure to the art of the culture. It leaves little room for one's own interpretation. You become a voice for a region of people who some of the audience members will never get to meet. This may be their first glimpse of life into this culture. It must be represented in a manner that is clear and respectful to its native inhabitants. I appreciate projects like this because it challenges me to step outside my own comfort zone. It makes you dig deep to truly embody the essence of someone who you may think you have no connection to. In that process, we find that we are all connected by something in one way or another.

The Other/Post-Colonial Theory

It is said that many people hate what they do not understand. This statement became very clear while reading this assingment. History has shown us what whoever is in the majority with the most power often can and will dominate the minority. This goes beyond skin color and crosses into specific segments of individual's idiosyncrasies. My question is..does this form of thinking derive from our essence or is this a learned behavior? It is instinctual to fear what is different from you? Why do we so often define ourselves through others? Why do we give other's impressions so much weight? While working at a charter school, I was responsible for chracter education for fifth grade girls. I asked them to call out adjectives of how they felt the media depicted them. The class was all African American and things were called out like agressive, attitude, mean, over-sexual. The list did not contain one positive word to represent this group of girls. I watched how many of them justified the examples and argued why most of them were true. I believe in instances, those in the minority begin to birth those attributes and own them without uniting and proving to the opressing force that they are in fact more than the label.

Post-Colonial Theory
When I hear the phrase post-colonial theory, I conclude a set of ideas, assumptions or conclusions of the affect of colonization on a group of people. Theatre and performance pieces often merge or show the contradictions in the origin and contemporary lifestyle as it results from colonialism. When a group becomes aware of what it has become, what individual actions are replaced to restore history? Is it easier to assimilate into a new way of living? What mentally transpires to embrace and accept a new found culture? My knowledge of this topic is limited and I am highly interested in obtaining further research to gain a clearer and better understanding.

The Reinvention of Theatrical Tradition

I 've heard many times that nothing in life is constant but change. Despite this fact, we often are resistant to change. Birthing any new concept is often opposed by the masses if it changes the order of how things were. I pondered these thoughts while reading this essay. Having a limited knowledge of Peter Brook's work hindered my comprehnesion of this piece. My initial response was Brook wanted to explore African theatre after colonialism. He wanted to see how indeginous practices intertwined with western influences created a new type of theatre. It seemed he was equally excited to expose the culture to a new realm of performance. He stated, "They'll be expecting a show. We must give them some real skill." Brook seemed intrigued by the collaboration of the nigerian artist taking the spiritual/mythical aspects in conjunction with everyday life and creating theatre.

Several questions arise from the above statement. The term "real skill" is subjective. Who dictates what's considered real in the field of intercultural performance? Will there ever be one universal criteria of what theatre should be? What sound facts do we have that states this practice has not been done before? Can one truly understand this type of theatre without understanding the cultural/spiritual belief of its people?

Discipline in Your Mind, Body and Soul

How does one achieve greatness? What are the factors in becoming the best in what you do? What type of training is required to be considered above average in any area in life? While watching Farwell My Concubine all of these questions crossed my mind. My heart grieved when the orphans were beaten and tortured. They were physically reprimanded when something was wrong as well as when it was right. I am reminded of the line where the master teacher hits the student's hand and says that was right and the hit is so you can remember to do it like this all the time. This tedious, abusive regimen produced performers highly skilled and strengthened in their body and craft. At the same time, it created victims to the most hideous pain mentally and physically ever imaginable.

This made me take an intrapersonal look into theatre/dance programs in our country. Where can this type of passion and intensity be found? What programs are equivalent in developing strength in mulitple realms in a student life? It made me value my educational experience and in truth want more. Not in the sense of physical pain, but of intensity. Often times my fellow graduate students and I complain about work loads and responsibilities. The pressure, discomfort and set expectations are in place to strengthen our skills. I would greatly appreciate those same types of demand to be placed on us physically. During my best friend's MFA program, the school incorporated yoga training into there daily schedule. If our bodies are the instruments used to share the human experience on stage, we must train it as so.

That type of intensity and discipline creates a higher level of respect and admiration for the field and performers. I am not sure we are capable of ever fully understanding the depth of this type of training and how it relates to the performer's mental physche for years to follow. What I can say is my respect level heightened, my consciousness enlightened and my self awareness of how much work I have to do as an artist was made very clear.

I leave wondering if suffering is a componet to this level of perfection. Can this type of virtue and discipline be obtained without going through some type of purging? My question may never be answered.

What is Justice?

With what little I understand or can perceive as particularly “Chinese” about both Thunderstorm and Snow in Midsummer is the idea of justice manifesting in a balance being struck, and one’s actions coming back to effect life later. I may be completely off base with this but I think this particular content of the play is Chinese or at least Asian in its perspective.
In Snow in Midsummer Dou E is able to bring the balance of justice to the world through her righteous living and her “cursing,” so to speak, the world to prove her innocence. Conversely, Chou remains alive and that life has been irrevocably affected by the uncovering of his past injustice. He may mourn the assumed death of Lu Ma decades earlier and even try to fulfill a type of ancestral filial respect, but he harmed her in the most egregious way. Nothing short of the sacrifice of all his children can atone for this. Even losing his own life seems to not be enough to make amends.
This is one aspect of Thunderstorm that I found particularly fascinating. The adults who committed the transgressions (Lu, Fan, and Ma) were not killed, thus leaving the future generations to suffer from the elders’ sins. Instead the progeny of “sinners” (so to speak) are wiped away and the older generation is left with the tatters of a former way of life. I’m not certain at all if this is “Chinese” or just the playwright’s viewpoint on his world. Ma’s heart wrenching monologue wherein she laments that her “poor children, they didn’t know what they were doing” and “The guilt is here in my heart, and I should be the one to suffer for it” seems to tell the audience why the children are killed in the context of the play itself. Again, is this the playwright's worldview or cultural perspective?
Nonetheless, she certainly gets her wish. The parents will finish the remainder of their lives with the burden of so many destroyed lives. It seems to me to be a Western concept to end the story with the deaths of the older generation and the younger having to clean up the inherited mess. But, I’m not sure which play or movie planted this idea in my mind. Perhaps my conceiving that type of ending is a product of Western, “the sins of the father will be visited upon the son,” Judeo-Christian culture.

The Artist's Body

Juxtaposing The Worlds of Mei Lanfang with Farewell my Concubine illustrated what we do as artists. We take a human experience and recreate it in a different form to express something profound and important (the impact of- and power struggles in- human relationships, the state of our society, our personal responsibility in the face of life's trials, etc.). Mei Lanfang’s artistic performances certainly did this. Telling ancient tales he and the other actors portrayed them in a highly stylized fashion. No person truly carried his or her self in real life as Mei and the other actors presented themselves on stage. The use of gestures along with the very particular stage movements were all used to re-form the experience and find a profound moral for the people to take in.
Moreover, Mei Lanfang himself took the human experience of being a woman and reformed it into what was said to be a portrayal of “an ideal woman.” While this, as the point was made, is not cross-dressing in the Western sense it is still seems to this Westerner to be men telling women what ideals they should strive for. Nowhere in the documentary this cultural aspect discussed. I am curious if modern feminism or even Communism’s theoretical social equality has influenced how this ancient and formalized idealization is perceived.
While the training portrayed in Farewell my Concubine was extreme to say the least, it did show how the body is simply a toll for the performing artist. Physical discipline—as well as the mental discipline necessary to achieve that physical fluidity—is of the utmost importance for us as stage artists. Even in Western realism we must always be vigilant that our bodies serve the needs of the role. We may not be using the stylized and grand gestures of Chinese Opera but we need to be just as precise and specific.
Also, I understand and appreciate Mei Lafnag’s family being unhappy with the portrayal of homosexuality in Farewell my Concubine. Still, a human experience was recreated in a different form to express something quite profound. We can debate what the main thrust of the story was. But, for me, one important idea is that we as artists are always a part of our society no matter how we strive to stand away from it and only present our art solely as aesthetic offerings.