A cypress stage for Kyogen performers living in the 21st century
Vol.10 "Rokujizo" Workshop
Okura doctrine (Noh actor Kyogen style Okura style)
You can see the sea and mountains from the gymnasium.
In a wonderful location, I was working on a new Kyogen play with the children.
The theme of this time is to make Kyogen the story that is handed down in the land. The theme was "Rokujizo".
It's a simple story about a long time ago when children who were told by a lord to pray for rain accidentally splashed water on Jizo statues and it rained.
Therefore, we added a little dramatization to the ending, which is very Kyogen-like, saying, ``When the children are dancing for rain, the Jizo will also start dancing.''
First of all, I handed over the script and practiced vocalization and gestures.
The children were nervous at first, but gradually got used to it and relaxed. As a result, even children who were unable to raise their voices (they can speak very loudly but can't speak in front of others) gradually became able to raise their voices, smiled more often, and remembered the lines well.
Next is the movement as Kyogen.
All Kyogen performances have a set "form". It is important to polish the techniques taught by the teacher.
Here I stopped.
If you're going to work on a "new work" with children, is it important to start from a fixed "form"? Given the limited time, it might even get in the way. In order to stimulate children's sensibility, it is necessary to create with free ideas without being bound by "types".
With that in mind, I let the children freely decide how to pose Jizo and how to express themselves. We ask them to be independent and creative, and let them move the way they want to. We put it all together in a “type” and teach it to you.
What is important for children is not to teach correct and incorrect answers, but to support, acknowledge and guide the ideas they have come up with.
I think that the children felt the joy of being able to express their own movements as "forms". The smiles and serious expressions on the children's faces when they stood on the stage speak for themselves.
The three days we spent together, with so many smiles, became an irreplaceable time for me.
