Blog Post 6 - Japanese Noh

Japanese Noh Theatre has been around since the 14 century. The noh, is different from many other forms of art and music because it is said that the actor is unaware of what is going to be played. The actors and musical performers feed more off each other and that is how their performance is made. Due to their nonpulsatile music, it lets the actors expand with how they will conduct their performance. Experts have a sense of where the piece or flow the of music is going and feed of the vibe in order to create the Noh performance. With this type of play, it is very easy to lose a sense of time. To observe the Noh theatre, I searched YouTube and found a great segment from a classical Noh performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdk1pi0BSug
First, I watched this link to observe more of the instruments used and how they are used to build on each other. Noh performances consist of four instruments typically, a bamboo flute, and three small drubs. Within this link, you are able to see those. I also noticed that many of the Noh performances where typically set on a wooden stage and the main actor would perform in front of those playing the instruments. Another great link that shows for of the actor side of the performance can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTv8uM_jmmI&feature=related
I have also noticed that the actor is often carrying a fan in one hand. Their performance instead of being tremendously acrobatic and quick jumping around, consists of walking and more rigid movements. At least this is the impressions that I have got from the videos that I have watched.