Artsource - Eth-Noh-Tec

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Stories presented by Eth-Noh-Tec come from 11th centur y China, but reflect modern issues important to the artists. These incude non-discrimination and the importance of working for the good their Californiacommunities.

Background Information: this performance fuses Eastern and Western artistic motifs. The sound of a Ditze (Chinese flute) adds excitement, color and punctuation as the duo tell of a young woman who overcomes her fear of death through her strong desire to help others. The performers use a “tandem” telling style, sharing narration and transitioning between different characters within the stor y. Embellished with rhythmic dialogue, tightly choreographed poses and comic facial gestures, their performance is inspired by traditionalAsian theatre, yet also explores new ground within modern American performance art, which invites theaudience to share in the personal stories of the performers.

About the Artwork: Eth-Noh-Tec presents The Long Haired Girl, a legend from China. A synthesis of music, movement and words, Title of Work: The Long Haired Girl Creator: Eth-Noh-Tec: founded by Artistic Co-Directors Nancy Wang and Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo in 1982.

CREATING

TRANSFORMATION THE POWER OF NATURE FREEDOM OPPRESSION&ENDURINGVALUES THEFAMILYHUMAN ARTISTIC PROCESSES

1. (Cr) PRESENTING, PRODUCING (Pr) (Re)

2. PERFORMING,

3. RESPONDING

4. CONNECTING (Cn) rtsource ® The Music Center’s Study Guide to the Performing Arts A MULTI-MEDIAEXPERIMENTALCONTEMPORARYCLASSICALTRADITIONAL

Ms. Nancy Wang (a fifth-generation Chinese American) and Mr. Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo, (a third generation Japanese/Filipino American) are dedicated artists who use performance art and storytelling to share their version of the Asian American experience. The performers present a unique style of storytelling that links ancient Asian performing traditions with contemporar y American “Performance Art.” Drawn to the universal values expressed in ancient legends, their presentations give ageold stories new life, encouraging audiences to reflect and draw parallels to modern times. Their mission is to build cultural bridges and embrace differences, to shift consciousness, to break up stereotypes and ultimatelyto help create more compassionate communities. In this way, the company meets the goals expressed in their name: the weaving (tec) together of distinctive cultural elements (eth) to create new possibilities (noh). Robert’s unique talent in blending the East with the West is apparent in this group’s exciting and innovative work. Nancy’s choreography and staging, as well as her background in modern and traditional dance, including Filipino and other Asian movement forms, synergizes with her partner’s contributions to create the unique style and mission of the group.

THEATREMUSIC

Creative Process of the Artist or Culture: “Performance Art” is a highly personal theatrical presentation influenced by the life experiences of the artist, usually imbued with strong opinions, ideas and beliefs. Many performance artists use this form of expression to protest, shock or challenge established ideas. Others use it to examine and illuminate evolving cultural, political or racial situations.

Photo: Allen Nomura

“No matter how far we move forward with technology, we will always have a desire for stories. They are the mirror - they are our ancient voices that continue to offer reflection, humor and mystery.”

Additional References: • Pellowski, Anne. The Family Storytelling Handbook. Macmillan Publishing, New York, 1987.

Discussion Questions: After the video has been viewed:

• Discuss what lesson this story might be trying to“teach.”

• Artsource® video excerpt of The Long Haired Girl, featuring Eth-Noh-Tec with Nancy Wang and Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo,© 1994, Bridge Media, Inc.

• Discuss where stories come from with your students (word of mouth, personal experiences, myth, legend, imagination). Do they have any personal stories, told to them by a parent, grandparent, other relatives or friends? Help them collect and share those stories.

• Ask students to write a paragraph about some aspect of the performance or of the stories they heard. After the paragraphs have been written, ask students to review their work and add colorful, descriptive language that uses words to “illustrate” the performance.

Creative Process Continued: Eth-Noh-Tec almost always starts with a stor y that comes from ancient times and offers timeless, universal messages. They identify important story points and then work on ways to elaborate those points through visual images and sound. The stor y telling style Eth-Noh-Tec uses is not realistic, but is highly stylized. Gestures are broad and sharp; movements are exaggerated and unnatural. This style of performance is based on several age-old traditions of Asian theatre, including Chinese opera and Japanese kyogen, which feature comic plays written in every day language. Dance, music and movements are integral parts of the story and are used to express and exaggerate a character’s emotions and intentions.

• Ask small groups of students to select a classroom story and to physically interpret and illustrate the reading of it with gesture, sound and imagery. Ask them to present their scene to the class.

• Direct students to select an actual event that they can use as inspiration for a fictional story they create.

• How can someone “die from the truth.” Physically? Spiritually? Emotionally?

Audio-Visual Materials:

* Indicates sample lessons * * *

Sample Experiences: Level I

• Define “sacrifice.” What does it mean to sacrifice for someone else? Have you ever done this?

• Select a class story and discuss the events, setting and characters with the class. Divide the class into small groups and give each group a card that describes one event from the story. Perform these as tableaux.

• Discuss how many different ways the artists told their story. (with their voices, bodies, music, dance, movement and words)

• Ask students to illustrate their favorite part of the video, recalling costume pieces, props and characters. Have them share their drawings with the class, explaining why they selected that part of the performance to draw.

Work in small groups to sequence their individual drawings.Draw additional pictures to fill in the gaps.

Level III

• Encourage students to recall a turning point or situation in their lives and write a short paragraph about that event. Then ask them to each describe the original event to a partner. Where did the event take place? Who were the characters (people) involved in their story? What lesson did the student learn? 2

Characters should be renamed, if necessary new characters may be added. Settings and time period may also be changed. Students should then write their stories, making sure that they have a beginning, middle and an end. They should also have a “lesson” from their story.

Level II

• Identify at least one gesture, line of dialogue or movement that surprised you, made you laugh or feel sad. Mimic that gesture, and then explain why you felt that way. •What did you learn from the performance? What part did you particularly enjoy? Why?

Multidisciplinary Options: Eth-Noh-Tec uses frozen poses in addition to moving gestures to tell their story. Ask students to select a current event that is meaningful to them, then locate photographs (from newspapers, magazines, etc.) that reflect their emotions about the event. In small groups, encourage them to create their own stylized tableaux of these current events.

LEVEL I Sample Lesson

3. The wolf, arriving at Grandma’s house first, threw poor little Grandma into a dark closet and hid in her bed, waiting for Little Red Riding Hood to come.

5. Grandma, the hunter and Little Red Riding Hood celebrate by eating the goodies in the basket.

PROGRESSION:

OBJECTIVES: (Student Outcomes)

• Describe, discuss, analyze and connect information and experiences based on this lesson. Refer to Assessment at the end of this lesson. (Responding & Connecting)

3

• Discuss “tableaux,” or frozen pictures, with the class. If the concept is difficult for students to grasp, compare it to a photograph, which is a frozen moment in time that shows something happening. Help

INTRODUCTION:

“One picture is worth a thousand words,” as the old saying goes. Images echo in our hearts just as words ring in our ears. Both words and images can be used to produce effective storytelling. Frozen pictures, or tableaux, can provide instant impressions of events.

Example: (Little Red Riding Hood)

Students will be able to:

1. One bright, sunny day, a beautiful little girl in a bright red cape was walking through the woods, taking a basket of food to her grandmother’s house.

2. The beautiful little girl stopped beside a gloomy, mossy gigantic tree to tell a very large, hairy, smiling wolf where she was going.

THEATRE

• Work as a group to “frame” a stage picture that tells one part of a selected story. (Creating & Performing)

• Five index cards, each containing a sentence describing one event from a selected story. Sentences should be as visual as possible.

4. Little Red Riding Hood is almost eaten by the wolf but is saved at the last minute by a hunter.

MATERIALS:

This lesson will focus on the use of visual images to tell a story without words. Students will learn to work as teams to create a story “tableau” that shows one event in a story sequence. The tableau, when combined, will visually tell the stor y to viewers.

THE HUMAN FAMILY FRAMING A STORY

• Identify important aspects of story structure, such as sequencing of events or beginning, middle and end and conflict. (Responding & Connecting)

EXTENSIONS:

ANALYZE: Discuss what made an image the most effective (clarity, strong emotions, humor, strong gestures). How would dialogue (words) change the image?

ASSESSMENT: (Responding & Connecting)

DISCUSS: How is a visual story different from a story that is told with words? What could images do that words cannot? What do words do that images cannot? Were the images presented the only way to interpret a story scene?

• Allow students to draw several of the “framed” images and caption each image.

• Discuss the story, events, characters and settings to be recreated with the class, then divide students into small groups (5-7) and give them one of the index cards.

• After the class has presented the first version, students may change groups and tr y again, or keep the same groups but work on a different story card.

• Ask each group to evaluate their own tableau in terms of the emotional and physical images being presented. Can the gestures be larger? Can the facial expressions be more intense? Is the picture clear to the viewer? Are they telling their part of the story? Did they “fill the frame” ? Allow the groups some time to “edit” their story picture.

DESCRIBE: Direct students to describe their reactions to their classmates’ story scenes and to their own participation. What did they see?

• Encourage students to bring in drawings, photographs, newspaper clippings or other images and let them tell the class what they imagine is happening in the “frame.”

• Encourage students to bring in favorite stories for “framing.”

• Instruct students to work together to create the picture (or photograph, or picture frame) that their card describes. It is sometimes helpful for the teacher to cast the parts, as well as to select a “director” from each group. If there are more students than parts, those not cast may portray “extras” that the group adds to the scene, such as inanimate objects (doors, pillows, frames, etc.), scenery (trees, signs, etc.) or extra characters (animals, etc.) Encourage them to “fill the frame.”

• Ask each group to present their story picture to the class in sequence with the other groups. Discuss the results in terms of clarity of image, effective presentation of story points and character.

Emphasis on: Common Core - CA State Standards for Language - Reading; Writing; Listening; Speaking 4

them mark off a picture “frame” space in the front of the class that each story scene will “fill.” This will help them understand the desired depth, width and size of the tableau they will be creating.

VOCABULARY: tableau, image, frame, photograph, dialogue, story scene, character, setting, action, conflict

• Tell or read a personal or family story to a partner or to the class. (Creating & Performing)

Stories are a reflection of the history, beliefs and lives of the people who tell them. More importantly, they are also a living history of events that may never be committed to paper. There are many cultures that foster a strong oral history tradition, including Native American and African cultures.

Students will be able to:

• Describe, discuss, analyze and connect information and experiences based on this lesson. Refer to Assessment at the end of this lesson. (Responding & Connecting)

This lesson will focus on the collecting and presentation of personal and/or family stories. Students will identify, collect and present a story from their family or friends.

OBJECTIVES: (Student Outcomes)

5

LEVEL II Sample Lesson

• Identify basic elements of stories and storytelling. (Responding & Connecting)

• Students should think about a stor y that has been told to them by their family or friends - their birth, a special vacation, a specific party, etc. Once they have decided which story they want to use, they should make a list of all “story elements:” characters, setting (time and place), plot (the events) and conflict (what obstacles the main character was trying to overcome to get to what they desired.) Students should then write a brief narrative paragraph describing the story events.

MATERIALS: Pencils and paper PROGRESSION:

• Teachers should discuss basic elements of stories with their class: Stories are about people (characters) who live in a certain place and time (setting) who want something and who overcome obstacles (conflict) to achieve their desires. Every person has stories they can tell about their lives, no matter how young or old they are. Stories have a beginning (introduction to character and desire), middle (complication of desire and conflict, or problem) and end (resolution.) There is always a lesson learned by the main character. (Example: In Little Red Riding Hood, one lesson is “Don’t speak to strangers.”)

• Understand the impact of historical events in personal lives. (Responding & Connecting)

THEATRE

INTRODUCTION:

THE HUMAN FAMILY COLLECTING FAMILY STORIES

ANALYZE: What effect does knowing the histor y of a family or friendship have on an individual life? How can it teach them? How does it define them? How does it hinder or help them as they grow?

• Students should read their stories to the class. The classroom teacher can lead a positive discussion about what the story is “teaching” students. Comments from students should be constructive criticism.

VOCABULARY: dialogue, character, setting, action, conflict, resolution, play, criticism, revision, interview, investigation, point of view, oral histor y, anecdotes

ASSESSMENT: (Responding & Connecting)

DISCUSS: Discuss the benefits of recording oral histories in a written form. Why is it important to remember past events from family and friends?

Emphasis on: Common Core - CA State Standards for Language - Reading; Writing; Listening; Speaking 6

EXTENSIONS:

• Ask students to present selected class stories as short scenes.

• Allow students to select an historical event and write an imagined stor y of what one character would have told their son or daughter about their own involvement.

• After checking with their story sources, students should use their narrative paragraphs, along with any new information, and create a listing of the sequence of events for their story, and identify the lesson “learned” by the main character in the story as a result of the events. Students also should decide which character’s point of view will be most effective in telling the story.

NOTE: Younger students may require help in identifying a conflict. The conflict can be as simple as a younger sister wanting to lick ALL the candles on the older sibling’s birthday cake despite the wishes of the older sibling, or as complex as a young adult’s desire to travel to a new country against the wishes of his parents.

• Students should read their completed stories to their families or friends and report to the class about the comments received.

• Students should “investigate” their story by asking questions of their parents, grandparents, siblings or other relatives or friends about the events of the story they are trying to recreate. Sometimes hearing the same story from different points of view can be quite enlightening. Students may wish to prepare a list of questions prior to their “interview” to help them stay focused on the “oral history” they are trying to collect.

DESCRIBE: Describe your reactions to the story collecting experience. What was the most difficult aspect? The selection of the story? Deciding whose point of view to be used? What was your family’s or friends’ reaction to hearing the story?

• Students should write their stories in an expanded form, including dialogue and descriptive language. They can share their finished stor y with a partner to receive feedback for revision purposes.

LEVEL III Sample Lesson INTRODUCTION: Dramatization of a classroom story can be an exciting way for students to explore the events, characters, settings, conflicts and lessons contained in a piece of literature. It allows them to physically understand the intent of a character, the impact a specific environment might have on an event or even understand consequences as related to character choices. This lesson will focus on the physical interpretation, dramatization or reading of a classroom or created story with gesture, sound and imagery.

• Curriculum books or stories for reference

AND IMAGERY THEATRE

7 THE HUMAN

Students will be able to:

PROGRESSION:

OBJECTIVES: (Student Outcomes)

• Work as a group to select important stor y points to emphasize and expand, identify aspects of character and create or present effective dialogue. (Creating & Responding & Performing)

• Create and evaluate sounds and gestures that provide emphasis for specific narrated moments in the scene. (Creating & Performing)

• Identify and present a scene from a piece of classroom literature and its characters, setting, action, plot, conflict and resolution through the use of gesture, sound, imager y, dialogue and narration. (Creating & Performing)

• Students should select a scene from classroom curriculum or other sources that they feel has a strong message to present. ( Teachers may decide to make their own list of suggestions.)

• Working in small groups, students should create a list of actions (events) that occur during the selected scene. They should identify which actions (events) are crucial to the story they wish to present. They should also clarify the message or lesson the scene is presenting. FAMILY TELLING A STORY WITH SOUND

MATERIALS: • Pens, pencils and paper

• Describe, discuss, analyze and connect information and experiences based on this lesson. Refer to Assessment at the end of this lesson. (Responding & Connecting)

GESTURE,

• Each group should present their scene to the class. The class may wish to discuss each scene following the viewing.

CONNECT: Watch a speaker (newscaster, politician, actor, minister) with and without the sound and analyze the gestures that they use for emphasis.

ANALYZE: Choose one piece and present it again. Stop at crucial moments and discuss the images presented. If you were to caption the frozen images, what would the caption say?

DESCRIBE: Describe your reactions to your own participation in the physicalization of your scene. Describe what you saw when the scenes were presented.

• Students may then share their presentation with another group, requesting feedback and suggestions. The focus of the session should be on clarity of message and gesture, story points and impact of sound and gestures. Do they work? Why? Why not? What else would work more effectively?

• Students should work slowly, physicalizing the list of actions (events) and guided by the narration. They should decide which moments need a sound or special gesture to emphasize the impact of the narration and action. Sounds should be performed live (pencils tapped, books snapped, hands clapped) and gestures and actions should be sharp and stylized. The production assistant and director should take careful notes of which sounds and actions are suggested or used.

• Using the list of actions for guidance, students should write a narration of the events that will explain and elaborate on each action.

• Ask students to try to communicate a specific message without sound. Then ask them to try to communicate without gesture. Which was easier for them? Which was more difficult? Was there anything they missed?

• Ask students to present a class report that uses gestures and/or sounds to emphasize important points. They may work individually or with a partner.

• Students should elect a narrator and cast the characters in their scene, with any additional students acting as director, production assistant and sound people.

• Ask students to watch a movie without the sound, then with the sound. What do the sound and music add to the impact of the images?

ASSESSMENT: (Responding & Connecting)

Emphasis on: Common Core - CA State Standards for Language - Reading; Writing; Listening; Speaking 8

DISCUSS: Discuss the impact of sound in a presentation. How does it add to the words being spoken? What kind of depth do sounds add to the emotional aspects of a piece?

EXTENSIONS:

VOCABULARY: dialogue, character, setting, action, conflict, resolution, play, criticism, revision, sound, gesture, stylized, image, scene, event, narration

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