Fall 2010

Noh, what? - An Introduction to the Performance of
Japanese Noh Drama

Instructor: Elizabeth Dowd

Tuesdays evenings, 7:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
September 7th - October 19th, 2010 (no class Sept. 28th)

Fee: $225
Maximum class size: 12
Location: Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder

If you would like to pay by check, please print out the enrollment form at the bottom of the page and return it to BETC with your payment.

About the Class:

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century, involving chant, masks and dance.

Under the instruction of Elizabeth Dowd, participants will learn the basics of suriashi (the distinctive Noh foot movement), kamae (the stance required for Noh movement), and the kata (movement patterns) used in Noh dance in order to learn a dance excerpt from a Noh play. Considerable time will be spent on the utai (chant) of Noh. Participants will learn to chant (in Japanese) the pieces they are dancing and gain a basic understanding of the musical notation system used in Noh. Participants will learn the two styles of chant used in Noh, wagin (melodic) and gogin (dynamic).

As time permits, students will learn some of the distinctive patterns and calls used in Noh drumming. We will view some DVD’s of Noh performances and discuss performance practice and performance elements as we watch. The workshop will culminate in a recital for invited family and friends.

No previous experience with Noh or Japanese is required. Clean white socks or traditional Japanese tabi socks (white) are required for participation.

About the Instructor:

ELIZABETH DOWD is a 32-year member of the nationally recognized Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble where she acts, directs, teaches, and produces the Noh Training Project (NTP), a three-week summer intensive. Ms. Dowd’s Noh training began in 1992 after a six-month Creative Artist Fellowship through the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission. In Japan, she began her study of Noh with Richard Emmert, the leading non-Japanese expert in Noh performance and founder of the Noh Training Project in Tokyo. Through his classes she trained with Noh actor Omura Sadamu.

Upon her return, Ms. Dowd established with Mr. Emmert a U.S. base for the Noh Training Project in Bloomsburg, PA. In its 16th year, the Noh Training Project at the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble has earned an international reputation for the most in-depth training available in the dance, chant, instruments, and masks of Noh outside of Japan, attracting students from Chile, Canada, Germany, the U.K., Nepal, the Netherlands, Japan and across the U.S. In addition to her producing responsibilities at NTP, Ms. Dowd teaches the first-year students and continues her own studies with Master Teachers Matsui Akira, Oshima Kinue, and Kama Mitsuo.

Ms. Dowd’s training in Noh led her to become a Founding Member of Theatre Nohgaku, a company dedicated to the creation and performance of English language Noh, new works and traditional Noh in translation. With Theatre Nohgaku, Elizabeth has toured At The Hawk’s Well, by W.B. Yeats (to seven U.S. cities), the world premiere of Pine Barrens, by Greg Giovanni (at the North Carolina School for the Arts and Duke University), and most recently, the world premiere of Pagoda, by British playwright Jannette Cheong (London, Dublin, Oxford, Paris).


Watch this example of Elizabeth Dowd's Noh work!