Director of Theatre in Japan is Keynote at Colorado State’s Gateway to Asia Event March 7-11

Richard Emmert, director of the Theatre Nohgaku in Tokyo, is the keynote speaker for the annual Gateway to Asia event March 8-11 at Colorado State University. Emmert will deliver his presentation from 7-8:30 p.m. March 11 in Room 203 Music Building Concert Hall on the CSU campus.

In his keynote speech, Emmert will discuss and demonstrate Noh, a traditional form of Japanese theater, which encompasses more than 600 years of performance, commentary and literary production in Japan. Based on tales from traditional literature, Noh integrates masks, costumes and various props in a dance-based performance.

Noh has influenced bunraku, Japan’s puppet theater, as well as kabuki. In 2001, UNESCO designated this performance as an example of World Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Emmert, who has taught and performed in Japan since 1973, is a certified Kita school instructor of Noh. He leads an ongoing Noh performance workshop in Tokyo for non-Japanese as well as an annual three-week summer Noh Training Project in Bloomsburg, Pa.

The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Mako Beecken at makobee@lamar.colostate.edu or Mindy Varner at mindy.varner@colostate.edu.

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