JCCC Events: Kyogen (Monday, March 29) and Movie Night (Thursday,March 18)

SUPPORTED EVENT
Please note: both of these events take place at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC)
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Yamamoto Kyogen Company Canadian Debut!



Date: Monday March 29, 2010

Time: Lecture 6:30 pm, Performance 7:00 pm

Location: JCCC, 6 Garamond Ct. , Toronto

Admission: JCCC members and students $25, non-members $30

Tickets: Please call (416) 441-2345

Kyogen, a world-renowned form of traditional Japanese theatre, has been designated a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO. This 600-year-old theatrical art requires an extremely high level of vocal and physical control in the three vocal disciplines of speaking, story-telling and singing, and utilizes exuberant facial expressions for comic effect. Stories are derived from mundane subjects and depict daily life through dialogue and mime. The comedy and laughter invoked by Kyogen are meant to celebrate humanity.

In this tour, Yamamoto Kyogen Company features two plays, Shido Hogaku (Stop in Your Tracks), which is typical of feudal-era Kyogen comedies, and Tsukimi Zato (Moon-viewing Blind Man), a play unique to the Okura School of Kyogen.

A traditional Noh stage will be built in Kobayashi Hall so that audiences can enjoy an authentic experience of Noh theatre. English subtitles will be provided during the performance.

Noh theatre expert Professor Jane Leavitt of Keyano College in Alberta will deliver an introductory lecture titled "The Laughter and Comedy of Kyogen."

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This Thursday at the JCCC: All Around Us (Gururi no Koto)



2008, 142 min

Dir. Ryosuke Hashiguchi

Starring: Lily Franky, Tae Kimura, Akira Emoto, Ryo Kase

In Japanese with English subtitles

Date: Thursday, March 18

Time: 7:00 pm

Location: JCCC, 6 Garamond Ct. , Toronto

Admission: JCCC members $6, Non-members $8

Tickets: Please call (416) 441-2345

Meet the Satos. Kanao is a dreamy courtroom sketch artist with a wandering eye. Shoko's a type-A personality who works in publishing, constantly fending off criticism from her dysfunctional family. They are college sweethearts, young, in love, and pregnant, and between 1993 and 2001, time marches on without much fanfare. The economic bubble bursts, salarymen embezzle millions, religious cults unleash poison gas on the subway and Kanao's sketchpad captures it all. After a miscarriage, Shoko spirals into depression and the young couple drifts apart. Ryosuke Hashiguchi is a celebrated director of the so-called "New Japanese cinema," a gay filmmaker known for such films as HUSH. After six years away, he returns to dissect a straight couple, and his focus is as laser-like (yet deceptively languid) as ever. All Around Us beat Academy Award-winner DEPARTURES to the top of most film critics' “Best of” lists last year, and all the top film awards in Japan either went to DEPARTURES or ALL AROUND US.