ABSTRACT
The training of children takes place in one-to-one sessions in which the teacher demonstrates the model and the student tries to imitate it as closely as possible. The training of a shite actor can be roughly subdivided into two main phases. These are formative phase’, and ‘perfecting phase’. This chapter introduces notions of time in the training of a shite actor, and place them within the larger context of a noh play production. Learning about noh theatre, a traditional Japanese performing art combining poetry, music and movement, one often encounters keywords such asjo-ha-kyu, ma or ichi-go ichi-e, all of which are expressions of time. One of the most peculiar features of noh is that its performances are one-off events, never repeated on consecutive days. For noh performers, ‘timeliness’, or the ability to catch the ‘right time,’ does not only refer to musical ability, but also to ‘readiness’ to act effectively whenever required with little or no notice.
