The UP Center for International Studies (UPCIS), as part of celebrating UP Diliman Month, will conduct an international conference with performances titled “Japan’s Noh Theater and the Philippine Practice of Western Performance Traditions: A Dialogue on Global Cultural Exchange and Diplomacy” on Feb. 10, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., at Aldaba Recital Hall, University Theater, UP Diliman.

The event will examine and showcase Noh Theater, a more than 650-year-old performed art form originating in Japan, as it initiates reflections and dialogues related to the Philippine context of Western performance traditions and their historical artistic development.

The conference will be followed by performances from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the same date at the University Theater Stage. It includes a rare performance of Noh Grandmasters, from the Kanze and Komparu Schools of Noh, who will dance their schools’ interpretation of a shimai (Noh dance) from the play “Hagoromo” (The Robe of Feathers).

It will also feature a new interpretation of the UPCIS’ Shinsaku (newly created) Noh interpretation of Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio’s CCP award-winning play, “Ang Paglalakbay ni Sisa, Isang Noh sa Laguna,” with Noh dances, chants, masks, costumes and instruments.

Sisa will be played by Naohiko Umewaka, an internationally celebrated Noh Grandmaster for Shite (lead actor) of the Kanze school, to be supported by the UPCIS North Ensemble composed of alumni and student-artists. The performance, which will illustrate the thrust of the conference, was conceptualized by and is under the direction of Amparo Umali, associate professor of UPCIS and convenor of the conference, in collaboration with Danielle Naomi Uy for Noh music and Umewaka for Noh dance and choreography.

Uy, a member of the UPCIS Noh Theatre Ensemble, was a recipient of a Jenesys grant from Japan Foundation to study Noh Theatre in Japan. Umewaka has been a visiting professor of the UP Center for International Studies since 2005, continuously mentoring the UPCIS Noh Theatre Ensemble and training UPCIS students through workshops, training-rehearsals, Skype and FaceTime sessions.

Two Filipino artists, Naomi Paz Sison (soprano) and Farley Asuncion (pianist), will also do a rendition of “Kay Tamis ng Buhay,” from an opera-adapted “Noli Me Tangere” to exhibit the artistry of Filipinos excelling in Western classical art forms.

The conference is co-organized with Tsukuba University and Shizuoka University of Art and Culture with the support of the Suntory Foundation, NCCA and the Embassy of Japan. The ambassador of Japan, Toshinao Urabe, will grace the event.

Contact UPCIS at telefax 4267573 or 0918-9286398.