All classes will be in person in the BSSS studios unless noted otherwise.
Check this page regularly for new classes.
ART & CULTURE OF JAPAN: KABUKI & UKIYO-E
with Misa Kobayashi Stuart
2 Classes
Dates: Tuesdays, April 23, 30
Times: 10:30am – 12:30pm
Tuition: $80 Members | $120 Non-Members
Location: Lecture Room
Japanese woodblock prints, Ukiyo-e, greatly influenced European artists in the later 19th c. Ukiyo-e by Hiroshige and Hokusai depicting landscapes are well known, but a genre lesser known in the west, but wildly popular in Japan was Yakusha-e (actor’s portraits). During the Edo period (1603 1868), Ukiyo-e artists produced many dramatic portraits of famous actors in the extravagantly visual Kabuki theater. These prints were used for publicity like today’s movie posters. Kabuki theater, still one of the most popular performing arts in Japan, was started by a woman in early 17th c. Kyoto. The historical and cultural background of Kabuki theater and Ukiyo-e prints, and this fascinating partnership of performing and visual arts will be explored through visual presentation.
WATCHING A KABUKI PLAY: THE RESIDENCE OF THE KAWATSURA HOGEN
with Misa Kobayashi Stuart
Dates: Saturday, May 4
Times: 10:30am – 12:30pm
Tuition: $20 Members | $30 Non-Members
Location: Lecture Room
from Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees
We’ll watch one act from the most popular and classic history play, in which a fox disguises himself as a warrior in order to get closer to a drum made from the skins of his fox parents. Could he take possession of this precious drum? There are many quick changes of roles and costumes throughout the course of the play.