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The Sibiu International Theatre Festival in Romania is one of the three major performing art festivals in Europe together with the Avignon Festival in France and the Edinburgh International Festival in the U.K. This year’s annual festival marked the 25th anniversary of its inauguration. The premiere was spectacularly held attended by Prince Charles of the U.K.
The Sibiu International Theatre Festival, deeply connected with Japan, is known as the first place of Europe tour of Heisei Nakamura-za led by late Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII. The festival is continuously inviting Japanese theatrical and dance companies including the ones led by Hideki Noda and Kazumi Kushida, the Black Tent Theatre, and Yamanote Jijosha. In 2016, the Yamamoto Noh Theater was invited to the festival as the first Noh theater company and received a thunderous ovation. Mr. Constantin Chiriac, the director general of the festival, gave a high mark, “Japanese traditional performing arts are the most sublime theatrical art.” Since then, the Yamamoto Noh Theater has been conveying the fascination of Noh performance to the people from around the world gathered to Sibiu every year. As the first performing art company invited from Osaka, the Yamamot Noh Theater is also communicating the excitement of Osaka by distributing the pamphlets introducing Osaka.
This program themed “Noh and Noism” is based on the idea generated by Mr. Chiriac. When he attended the performance by Noism, Mr. Chiriac happened to know that Noism was named after Noh and encouraged the Yamamoto Noh Theater and Noism to share in activities.
The Noism Method, one of the training methods generated by Noism, has fans all over the world.
The Method will be opened to the public at the Osaka Culture and Arts Festival 2018 for the first time. This is also the first occasion for Noism and Noh actors to collaborate.
The city of Sibiu, with the populations of 170 thousand, is a creative city that has realized the urban regeneration through the cultural events joined by 700 thousand people during the 10-day duration of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival. We will proudly invite Mr. Masayuki Sasaki as a moderator, who is a leading authority on the urban regeneration study and a supporter of the urban regeneration activities throughout Japan. After enjoying the short performances by Noh and Noism, both of which have gained globally recognition, Jo Kanamori, an Artistic Director of Noism, and Akihiro Yamamoto, a Noh actor of Kanze School, will talk about the performance by body culture of our time, conveying the possibility of cultural development from Osaka.

(Speakers)
■Masayuki Sasaki (principal researcher of the Headquarters for Vitalizing Regional Cultures under the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Special Visiting Professor of Doshisha University, Professor Emeritus of Osaka City University)
■Jo Kanamori (choreographer, dancer, Artistic Director of Dance Department at “Ryutopia,” the Niigata City Performing Arts Center, Artistic Director of Noism)
■Sawako Iseki (dancer, Assistant Artistic Director of Noism)
■Akihiro Yamamoto (Noh actor of Kanze School, general holder of Important Intangible Cultural Property, Representative Director of Yamamoto Noh Theater)