Noh Training Project UK is dedicated to providing accessible practical training in classical Japanese Noh drama.
Our primary focus is an annual intensive summer workshop open to performers, teachers, students, musicians – anyone with a desire to learn more about this unique example of Total Theatre. We founded Noh Training Project UK in 2011 to give people in Europe the opportunity to access Noh’s rich traditions and unique training practices.
Noh What?
Noh is a multi-disciplinary art form that combines dance, chant, music, mask, costumes and ancient stories in a powerful and stately performance. Developed by the Japanese philosopher and dramatist Zeami over 600 years ago, Noh is the oldest continually performed theatre in the world today. Other forms such as Kabuki (which was influenced by Noh) are better known in the West, but Noh remains the most regularly performed of the traditional theatre arts in Japan, with a growing following of enthusiasts across the world.
INSPIRATIONS
The intense stillness of the Noh form allows it to isolate profound moments of beauty and inner transformation, using a unique combination of dramatic and musical elements.
Noh has inspired and influenced western artists including Britten, Yeats, Grotowski, Barba and Brook.
Today, it continues to inform the work of a range of contemporary practitioners.
READ MORE
The Noh.com
A huge site full of information on Noh, in Japanese and (rather oddly translated) English.
Theatre Nohgaku Blog
Regular posts about different aspects of Noh, great photos and narrative summaries of plays
Noh and Kyogen (Japan Arts Council)
Short introductions to the Japanese traditional arts, in Japanese and English
My Journey into Noh Theatre
Lively opinions and Noh analysis from Kyoto-based Noh scholar and performer Diego Pellechia.
Summer Intensive 2024 - New Workshops Added!
Noh Training Project UK (NTP UK) is a unique summer workshop held at Royal Holloway, University of London, which offers intensive performance-based training in the dance, chant, music and performance history of classical Japanese Noh drama. We are delighted that Noh Training Project UK Masterclass teacher Akira Matsui, designated Intangible Cultural Asset by the Japanese government in 1998, will return to teach our performance workshop once again.
This year, we are delighted to offer two additional workshops, in Mask Making (23-28 August) led by Hideta Kitazawa and Noh Writing (17-19 September) led by Richard Emmert, which will run separately from the performance workshop.
Performance Workshop
Open to anyone with an interest in Noh, from complete beginners to those with more experience. All classes will be conducted in (or translated into) English. Participants will receive up to 13 days of intensive practical training and the opportunity to participate in an end-of-workshop recital, along with a range of learning materials (printed and , guided Noh film screenings, and access to the facilities and Noh book collections at Royal Holloway's Drama department.
Participation Options
Full Workshop: 24 August-6 September
Classes will run every day except the second sunday, culminating in a participant recital on the final afternoon.
Tuition Fee: £700
Weekend Taster: 24-25 August
The first weekend can be taken alone as a beginners’ introduction.
Tuition Fee: £260
1-Week Intensive: 24-30 August
A more in-depth beginners course will run for a week.
Tuition Fee: £550
Experienced/Returning Participants may choose to join the Full Workshop from Monday 26 August, or other dates by prior arrangement.
Location
Department of Drama, Theatre, & Dance at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Tuition
Prof. Richard Emmert, a certified Kita School Noh instructor and founder of Noh Training Projects in Japan and the USA. Noh master Akira Matsui will lead masterclasses during the Project’s final week.
Extras
Accommodation is not included in Tuition fee. University Halls rooms bookable separately.
Rehearsal Equipment: Participants must buy (or borrow) a noh rehearsal fan, and white tabi (or white socks) for use during the workshop.
Mask Workshop
Open to anyone with an interest in Noh, masks, or woodcarving, complete beginners welcome. All teaching will be conducted in (or translated into) English, so no Japanese language skills are necessary. Participants will be guided through the process of carving their own Noh mask over 6 intensive days in the workshop, and will have access to the facilities and Noh book collections at Royal Holloway's Drama department.
Dates
Friday 23 August – Wednesday 28 August
Tuition
Hideta Kitazawa, Noh mask artisan.
Tuition Fee: £550
Location
Department of Drama, Theatre, & Dance at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Extras
Accommodation is not included in Tuition fee. University Halls rooms bookable separately.
Noh Writing Workshop
Open to anyone with an interest in Noh or writing for performance. All teaching will be conducted in English. Participants will be guided through the elements, style and process of creating a Noh text, at Royal Holloway's location in the heart of Bloomsbury, central London.
Dates
17-19 September
Tuition
Richard Emmert, Noh teacher, writer and composer.
Tuition Fee: £260
Location
Royal Holloway’s Central London base, 11 Bedford Square WC1B at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Extras
Accommodation is not included in Tuition fee and should be booked separately.
With the help of Japanese plays . . . I have invented a form of drama, distinguished, indirect and, symbolic, and having no need of mob or press to pay its way – an aristocratic form.
W.B Yeats 1916UoL Noh Practice Group
Between periods of professional teaching on the summer workshop, we run a Noh Society practice group in association with two colleges of the University of London: Royal Holloway and the School of Oriental and African Studies. The main purpose of the Society is to give anyone with an interest the opportunity to learn about Noh, and for NTPUK summer school participants to continue to practice and consolidate what they have learnt.
Team and Sponsors
The Japanese Noh theatre which, owing to the technical ability it demands, might also be described as a super-profession
GrotowskiContact
WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU…
Please get in touch with us in any of the following ways
EMAIL: info@nohtrainingprojectuk.org
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/nohtrainingprojectuk
TWITTER: @nohtraininguk