After a long series of videos on various aspects of Noh in Japanese, Udaka Tatsushige has decided to reach out to the English-speaking public with videos in English. Here is a useful video on how to fold a noh hakama, the so-called ‘split skirt’ used by noh performers. It is not as hard as you could think!
Udaka Tatsushige
Noh changes with imagination | Tatsushige Udaka | TEDxKyotoUniversity TEDx Talks
Udaka Tatsushige’s TEDxKyotoUniversity talk on Noh is finally available with English subtitles! Enjoy and let us know what you think!
Noh, a classical Japanese musical drama, is not just what you see with your eyes, but what see with your mind too! This talk/performance will show you that in interpreting Noh, imagination is your limit!
Tatsushige Udaka was born in Kyoto, and started his career in Kokata acting from the young age of three years old. He was trained by the 26th head of the Kongo School, Hinasori KONGO, as well as by his father, Michishige UDAKA. Performing since he was young, he has had extensive stage and teaching experience in Noh Threatre. He has travelled, performed, taught, and demonstrated Noh in Japan, South Korea, France, and the United States throughout the last decade. Currently, he is based in Kyoto.
Wakate Noh Young Performers Series 2015
Wakate Noh – young Noh and Kyogen performers from the Kanze, Kongo and Okura schools will perform on the Kanze Kaikan stage on Saturday 27 June 2015 from 11:00. Udaka Tatsushige will take the shite in the Noh Miwa, the first play in the schedule, featuring the kagura instrumental dance. Feel free to contact me for more details and/or tickets.
See you!
The first Tatsushige no kai: “Mochizuki” 14 March 2015
Young actor Tatsushige Udaka makes his debut in the vendetta play Mochizuki. I bet you never thought that Noh could be so AMAZING. Come see for yourself on March 14th.
Udaka Tatsushige (Photo: Stephane Barbery)
On 14 March 2015 Udaka Tatsushige (first son of the INI founder Udaka Michishige) will hold the first Tatsushige no Kai, an annual Noh performance event he is producing, featuring high-caliber actors and musicians. Each year Tatsushige is going to take the main role in a particularly challenging play from the Kongo school repertoire. On the occasion of this first Tatsushige no Kai, Kongo Hisanori, grand-master of the Kongo School, has chosen for him the virtuoso Noh play Mochizuki. Family tickets and ‘next generation’ tickets for students and Noh theatre beginners are available! Check out the full program in English here!
Mochizuki: March 14th 2015, 14:00-17:00 – Kongo Noh Theatre, Kyoto
Mochizuki: the story
Mochizuki tells a story of revenge, celebrated in classical Japanese literature as an example of loyalty and selflessness in the face of injustice. Lord Tomoharu was assassinated…
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[Video] Tatsushige no Kai – Mochizuki 2015
Udaka Tatsushige, son of the INI leader Michishige, will perform the virtuoso Noh Mochizuki on March 14th 2015 on the occasion of the first Tatsushige-no-kai series performance event. Mochizuki is a dramatic vendetta story featuring the famous lion dance, normally associated with the Noh Shakkyō, here performed by a man wearing a lion wig, golden fangs symbolising the lion’s jaws, and a red cloth to cover his face. You can watch here the promotional video of the event below.
Speaking of Mochizuki, this is a Meiji-period colour photograph of an actor dressed for the role of Kozawa no Gyōbu Tomofusa, the main character of the play, part of Albert Kahn’s Archives of the Planet.
Noh music and dance at the London Contemporary Music Festival 29 May 2014
“The Japanese Extreme” is the headline of the third night (29 May) of the London Contemporary Music Festival 2014 at Britannia House, Spitalfields, London. The organisers have put together an impressive and bold line-up that crosses genre boundaries: Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Himmels Tür, (a percussion piece of Japanese inspiration) the Japanese noise act Pain Jerk, and…… NOH THEATRE.
Udaka Tatsushige and Udaka Norishige, sons of my teacher Udaka Michishige, along with four hayashi musicians from Kyoto and Osaka will perform the ibayashi (solo music and choir) of Shakkyō (The Stone Bridge), and the maibayashi (dance and music excerpts) of Hagoromo (The Celestial Robe) and Funa-Benkei (Benkei and the Boat). I will sing in the ji-utai chorus.
The repertoire we are going to perform is classic, and will be put on stage according to the Noh conventions. It is rather unusual for Noh to be performed along with other acts, all the more so in the context of a contemporary music festival, and we are very excited and honoured to participate to the LCMF this year. If you are in/around London don’t miss the chance to attend this unique event!
Visit the LCMF website for the full programme and ticket reservation.
[EVENT]: Internationalisation of Japanese Traditional Performing Arts
On January 8th 2014 the ARC Art Research Centre at Ritsumeikan University will host the event ‘Internationalisation of Japanese Performing Arts – Noh as Culture of the World’. The event combines performance, theory and discussion. See below for details (in English and Japanese).
The first part features shimai dance excerpts by masters of the Kongo School of Noh Udaka Michishige (Sanemori), Udaka Tatsushige (Yashima) and Udaka Norishige (Tomoe). I will also perform a shimai under my stage name Takaya Daigo (Atsumori – kiri). In the second part of the event I will showcase my current research: ‘The role of amateurs in the world of Noh’, as a work-in-progress. In this lecture I will explore the various kinds of amateur practitioners that populate the cultural world of Noh and how their social, economic and political role has changed throughout history. Unlike other kinds art professionals, most Noh performers depend on teaching amateurs in order to socially and financially sustain their artistic activities. Noh is currently undergoing a difficult phase in its history, with dwindling audiences and a lack of young blood among its professional ranks. In order to look for trajectories of solution to these issues, I believe that is necessary to consider the role of amateurs as one of the pillars on which the Noh world is based, and understand the complex relationship between audience, amateurs, and professionals. In the third part of the afternoon I will invite Udaka Michishige to discuss the role of amateurs in his experience as Noh actor and leader of the Kei’un-kai and of the INI International Noh Institute.
Internationalisation of Japanese Performing Arts
– Noh as Culture of the World –
January, 8th 2014 (Wednesday)
Ritsumeikan University, Kinugasa Campus
Art Research Center
Programme:
16:00 Opening remarks
16:40 Performance (shimai)
Atsumori – kiri Takaya Daigo
Tomoe Udaka Norishige
Yashima Udaka Tatsushige
Sanemori Udaka Michishige
17:00 Intermission
17:10 Lecture – The role of amateurs in the world of Noh -Diego Pellecchia (Visiting Researcher, Art Research Centre, Ritsumeikan University).
17:45 Udaka Michishige and Diego Pellecchia in conversation
18:30 Closing remarks
The event is open and free of charge
The Noh Diaries 