Japanese theater

Theatre Arts is one of the ancient traditions of the people in Asia particularly in Japan and China. This
theater art form was transmitted from generation to generation. It mirrors or reflects life. Its key
principle of theater is selectivity. Through the various forms of theater art, a specific form can achieve
clarity, order and beauty rarely found in ordinary life.

Noh
-traditional Japanese masked drama with dance and song,
ka·bu·ki
-a form of traditional Japanese drama with highly stylized song, mime, and dance, now
performed only by male actors, using exaggerated gestures and body movements to express
emotions, and including historical plays, domestic dramas, and dance pieces.

Epoch
-a period of time in history or a person's life, typically one marked by notable events or particular
characteristics.

Chinese theatre
Peking opera
-a stylized Chinese form of opera dating from the late 18th century, in which speech, singing, mime, and
acrobatics are performed to an instrumental accompaniment.

Accompaniment
-a musical part that supports or partners a solo instrument, voice, or group.

Mime

-the theatrical technique of suggesting action, character, or emotion without words, using only gesture,
expression, and movement.

Qing dynasty
-the last imperial dynasty of China (from 1644 to 1912) which was overthrown by
revolutionaries; during the Qing dynasty China was ruled by the Manchu
Kunqu

-Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It evolved from the Kunshan melody, and
dominated Chinese theatre from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

-They used dozens of traditional instruments.

-The highest aim of performers is to put beauty into every motion of their performances.
 Indonesian theater
Wayang kulit
-Shadow puppets are figures that are placed between a light and a screen. Moving them creates
the illusion of moving images on the screen. An experienced puppeteer can make figures appear to walk,
talk, fight and dance.
Wayang- puppet
-(in Indonesia and Malaysia) a theatrical performance employing puppets or human dancers.
a Javanese and Balinese shadow puppet play.

Javanese
- people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia.

Balinese
(Indonesian: Suku Bali) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Bali.

Kulit – skin of animals

-skin (outer covering of the body of a person) leather (material produced by tanning animal skin) shell
(covering of a nut).

Bayang
-shadow is used in Malaysian Indonesian. The word bayang is used in Filipino, Malaysian,
Indonesian meaning country,shadow.

Gamelan gender wayang

- is a style of gamelan music played in Bali, Indonesia.

dhalang or dalang
- (Javanese: dhalang; Indonesian and Malay: dalang) is the puppeteer in an Indonesian wayang
performance. In a performance of wayang kulit, the dalang sits behind a screen (kelir) made of white
cotton stretched on a wooden frame.
Dalang as a source of recreation, of humor and of popular philosophy (essential communication
between the artist and the audience).
Shadow play is an invention of man which reflects his experience of nature and of his thought.
Puppets are projected by the lamp on a white screen.
Non-jointed puppets were manipulated by the chief performer, the dalang, who told a story to
the accompaniment of several instruments, including some that are part of the present day gamelan
ensemble.
Wayangkulit was performed in royal court and widely performed in public on religious
occasions so that knowledge of wayang became widespread among all classes in Java.