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Overcome the coronavirus pandemic and move on to a new stage! Interview with Kanta Nakamori of Kamakura Noh Stage

コロナ禍を乗り越え新しいステージへ! 鎌倉能舞台・中森貫太さんインタビュー

In 2020, the entire world came to a standstill due to an unprecedented disaster. With almost all performances canceled, how have people involved in the performing arts overcome this crisis?
We spoke to Kanta Nakamori of Kamakura Noh Stage, who is actively engaged in crowdfunding and zoom rehearsals, and is opening up a new world while being in the world of traditional performing arts.

I have heard that the current coronavirus pandemic has also been a difficult situation for people involved in traditional performing arts.

As for us, we were completely suspended after our last performance on March 12th. After completing the verification of the effectiveness of infection prevention measures and the formulation of prevention guidelines, we finally resumed performances on September 22nd, making use of various grants, but we were unable to perform at all for about half a year. It will be. Until the state of emergency was lifted in May, our students' practices were suspended, so our income was almost zero. It was a really tough time.

It seems like you didn't just sit through that period silently, but instead started working on a variety of new things.

I had plenty of time, so I started a YouTube channel. The content mainly includes explanations about the stage, Noh masks, and costumes. We are distributing this information with the hope that it will get people interested in Noh and motivate them to attend performances and start practicing Noh after the coronavirus subsides.
We actually received inquiries from several people, so we started practicing using Zoom. Some people contacted me from London. There is a time lag with online training, so it can be difficult to do so, but I am currently training with people in London twice a month.

There seem to be some organizations that distribute videos of their performances for free, but I don't do that at the moment because I'm afraid it could push me into a corner in the future.

Traditional performing arts and online feel like a somewhat unexpected combination.

That's not true (lol). I also participate in online drinking parties, where I receive new information and meet new customers. I originally started using Facebook at the recommendation of a friend, but it's been about 10 years since then. To be honest, it was a bit of a hassle at first, and I felt like I started it reluctantly (lol), but now I have close to 5,000 "friends".

This time, we also worked on crowdfunding (CF ).

CF came about after being contacted by Yomiuri Shimbun.
* Click here for the CF of Kamakura Noh Stage !
An old journalist friend saw me complaining about my plight on Facebook, and he gave me a lot of support. I was so happy that I was moved to tears by the support I received from so many people, including my classmates from high school and my friends on Facebook.

Not only in traditional performing arts, but there is a certain idea that ``whining is uncool,'' so I didn't have any hesitation in working on CF. However, if you are really in trouble, you should be honest and say, ``Please help me.'' If you don't appeal, you won't be able to convey your true self.

We also did a CF for Kamacon , a volunteer organization active in Kamakura.
They planned the ``Machinoh Noh Performing Arts Festival'' in August with the idea that ``Maybe we could use the Kamakura Noh Stage stage and support it by paying usage fees.'' In addition to traditional performing arts, a total of 12 groups including jazz guitar, piano, violin, juggling, and kamishibai performed, and the performances were streamed on YouTube. As a result of this, the number of subscribers to our YouTube channel increased, and we were also able to highlight the wide range of ways in which the Kamakura Noh stage can be used, which was a great benefit.

In the past, there was an image of Noh Kyogen as something for people who understood it to watch, but that meant it was left behind in the flow of the times. If you don't plant the seed, you won't get the fruit. In order to sow the seeds, popularization activities such as student viewing parties are important, so I am sincerely grateful to Kanagawa Prefecture and Kamakura City for supporting these activities.

I have the impression that the Kamakura Noh stage is open to trying new things.

At the Kamakura Noh stage, subtitles in both Japanese and English have been projected on the side of the stage. At first, there were many negative opinions, but when we actually tried it out, it was well received by customers. It may have been a good idea to focus on simple explanations so that they could be read quickly while watching the performance, rather than providing a full translation of the song. Also, we are already considering changing the lighting to LED (although there are issues to consider, such as the colors of the costumes appearing to change), and we would like to incorporate projection mapping in the future. .

*From a performance in November 2018. Image provided by: Kamakura Noh Stage

The coronavirus pandemic was a major disaster, but the opportunities for us to be covered by the media have increased significantly, and our ability to respond has also improved. Taking this as an opportunity, we would like to actively look into acquiring sponsors in the future. Since the sponsor's name is written on the stage curtain of the theater, it would be a good idea to put the sponsor's name next to the pine tree on the mirror panel (lol).

In order for Noh Kyogen to continue into the future, I believe that it is necessary to cherish tradition while working on new things. I would like to exchange opinions with a wide variety of people and create a stage that will please our customers.


 
 

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