zen acting

8/18/2019 Zen Acting

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Fall 2003 131

Op ening th e Ac tor ' s Spir i tual Heart: The Zen Inf luence

on

A^^

Training and Performance

With Notes on Stanislavski and the Actor's Spiri tual i ty

K ath ryn W yl i e -M arq u es

The T endai Bu ddhist p riest Shunkan, exiled on De vil's island for conspiracy

against the H eike ruler, K iyomo ri, sits immobilized center stage holding the letter

that reprieves his two companions from living hell, but which does not mention

his own n am e. His m ask, inclined slightly forwards, is carved with lines of age and

intense suffering. As the ch orus sings the first half of the

kuse,^

he sits, apparently

doing nothing for an extended period of time while the other characters silently

witness. This is the

i-guse

(seated kuse) section of the fifteenth century Japanese

no

play

Shunkan,^

attributed to Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443), poet, playwright,

theoretician, and creator of the no drama.

The

deep,

silent concen tration o f the actor performing the i-guse bears a striking

resemblance to the Buddhist monk engaged in seated meditation zazen. Indeed,

the audien ce's fascination with mo ments of no-action results, according to Zeami,

from the acto r's gre ates t, mo st secret skill, an ability to manifest a concentration

that transcends his own consciousness ^ or, in the Mark Nearman translation,

[ . . . an a ware ness that go es beyond ] the activities of the discriminating functions

of the mind. ^ Imm obilized at the center of his body, the actor creates an inner

spiritual intens ity that connects all the arts through one intensity of mind. ^

The concentration of a master actor in the

i-guse

is one of the more striking

manifestations in the

no

of a fully integrated mind-body signifying the highest

level of acting. Zeami calls such peak acting moments

myokafu,

The art of the

flower o f peerles s cha rm, an aesthetic designation that Benito Ortolani and others

equate with the experience

of Z on satori

(enlightenment).^ Mind-body unity in the

no is achieved when the ac tor transcends his temporal self to unite with the hidden

aspects of his deepest se lf or Buddha nature —acc omplished in the selfless act of

bec om ing the character. At such moments, according to Zeami, the actor opens

his spiritual heart to the spectators, creating exquisite feelings that cause them to

gasp in mom entary wonde r—e ntering a state where their distinction-making minds

K a t h r y n W y l i e - M a r q u e s , P h . D . i s A s s o c i a t e P r o f e s s o r a n d C h a i r o f t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f S p e e c h , T h e a t r e ,

a n d M e d i a S t u d i e s a t J o h n J a y C o l l e g e o f C r i m i n a l J u s t i c e i n N e w Y o r k C i ty , A f o r m e r s t u d e n t o f

C l a u d e K i p n i s a n d E t i e n n e D e c r o u x , s h e i s t h e a u t h or o f Heroic and Satyric Mimes ( M c F a r l a n d , 1 9 9 4 ) ,

s e v e r a l a r t i c l e s i n The Mime Journal, a n d a c h a p t e r o n Z e a m i a n d D e c r o u i x in Zeami and the No

Theatre in the World (CASTA).


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132 Journ al of Dram atic Theo ry and Criticism

are suspended in a vision of the shimmering such-ness of the world, or the Buddhist

One True Reality.

The search for a methodology that enables the actor to attain peak mom ents of

great emotional intensity in which he overcomes mind-body duality but does not

lose control of his performance has been a central preoccu pation in the history of

acting. Answers have remaine d elusive in the West, which po sits the body as separate

and different from the mind,^ whereas, in the East, Buddhist spirituality holds that

the mind and body are already a unity whose original ontological wholeness can

only be experienced in and through spiritual cultivation (shugyo) involving an

intensive body discipline which aims at extinguishing the ordinary, everyda y mind

constituting the

ego.^

The term shugyo'' (or sometimes shortened to simply ''gyo )

mean s to train the body, but it also implies training, as a human being , the spirit or

mind by training the body. ^ W hile the term

shugyo

is most closely associated

with Buddhist cultivation, it also applies to the Buddhist-influenced arts of Japan

known as the Way

(do)

arts.

The

no,

along with poetry, calligraphy, p ainting , martial

arts (among others), is considered a Way art in which training

(keiko)

is viewed as

a form of ascetic discipline (shugySy ̂ that, like Zen cultivation, leads by stages

toward spiritual enlightenment.'̂ Indeed, the central tradition in Japanese aesthetics

. . . is one in which aesthetic experience and religious expe rience are ultimately of

the same kind. '^

While much has bee n written on Buddhist, Shinto, and Confucian elements in

no

plays, only recently has scholarship revealed that Zeam i was closely involved

with Soto Zen shugyo and that Zen aesthetics and cultivation practice s may have

deeply inspired his conception of actor training.'̂ Th is paper m akes connections

between Zeami's evolving theories of actor training and Zen

shugyo

in seeking to

answer the question of how a training methodology based in disciplining the body

educates the

no

actor to achieve m oments of mind-bod y unity in performance. The

paper concludes w ith a brief discussion of the actor 's spirituality in Stanislavski's

method of actor training and suggests that, while Stanislavski eventually came to

view disciplining the body as the key to the actor's orga nicity (a translation of

his term for mind-body unity), his approach to acting remained largely dualistic.

The paper draws upon translations of Zeami's treatises and the scholarship

available in English, which have become the primary source materials on the no

for Westem acting and performance teachers, for evidence of Zen-inspired aspects

of

no

training. Statements by contemporary no artists (primarily in Zeami's lineage)

regarding their acting processes, while not necessarily representative of the

experience of medieval

no

actors, nonetheless provide an important modern

perspective that helps to collaborate and interpret Zea mi's theories for W estemers.

Throughout, the author has drawn on her study of corporeal mime, no shimai,

Stanislavski-based ac ting, and her daily praxis of Zen m editation. W hile the effort

to locate Zeam i's work in the tradition of Z en shugyo is scholarly, the interpretation


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134 Journal of Dram atic Theor y and Criticism

avoid thoughts of fame and profit, and must study u nder the guidance of a master.

Similarly, Zeami writes that the actor must not o nly h ave the req uisite talent, but

also have a deep devotion to the art of

no,

exclusiveness of commitmen t, and study

with an acknow ledged master.^'

Disciplining the Body to Overcome the Mind

Overcoming the p rovisional duality between a mind that posits itself as distinct

and separate from the body is a central aim of training in Zen and the no . A s

Antonio Demasió has recently asserted, Descarte's ideas of a separate ego-self

located in a rational mind is errone ous; Spinoza had actually been correct when he

posited that the mind is only an aspect of the body. Kn ow ing and being aware of

the self as knowing that constitute what we call mind is closely bound up with

emotion and feeling generated by the body's responses to intemal and extemal

phenomenon.^- Over time, these responses hab ituate the mind-body giving rise

to an ego-se lf ( autobiographical self— De ma sio's

term).

Zen Bud dhists believe

that the ego must be o vercom e in order to restore the o riginal ontological unity of

mind-body and that this overcoming is accomplished by cultivation. Freed from

the ego, the cultivator experiences the world from the perspective of non-

differentiation or no se lf— an experience of em ptiness (ku/sunyata), as the

Buddhists term it, roughly analogous to the Westem concept of ek-stastis.

Disciplining the Body in Zen Shugyo

In

the

Buddha w ay, you shou ld always enter en lightenment through practice. ^^

Zen cultivation aims at eradicating the ego through the discipline of just

sitting

(shikan taza)

—m ore generally

(zazen)

—e stablished by Dogen as the core

practice of Zen

shugyo.

The ju sf indicates both the method of sitting in a lotus

position and the single mindedne ss of the devotion

to

and concentration on sitting.^^

In his detailed instmctions for sitting

zazen,

Do gen ma intains that the

zazen

posture

is the a priori root of no-m ind — the dro pping off of mind and body

characterizing awakening.^^

Zazen

replaces the individual's everyday posture and

mode of being in the world by restricting behavior an d focusing the mind inward.

With time, this new attitude becomes inscribed in the preconscious level of the

body— what Yuasa terms the dark consciousness. ^^

The essential meaning of Zen cultivation, according to Shiginori

Nagatomo, consists of the conformation of an individual to a

particular bodily form, whether it pertains to seated meditation

or to daily activities prescribed b y m onastic

mies.

The underlying

assumption is that one learns to correct one ' s mode of

consciousness first by assuming a certain bodily form. ^^


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Fall 2003 135

The

zazen

posture optimizes the shedding o f the ego-self by bringing the cultivator's

activity as close a s possible to zero. Imm obilized in an environment, cut off from

the distractions of the outside world, the cultivator is as though dead—a living

corpse. Sitting upright, yet relaxed, with attention to the breath and the proper

inclination of the head and spine, the cultivator attempts to disengage from the

constant stream of thoughts and emotions passing through the mind. In the early

stages of cultivation, the m ind intervenes to correct the posture, stop thought, and

will the breath. How ever, with

time,

the mind gradually gives up control and begins

to merely observe events occurring inside and outside the body. The cultivator is

learning, according to Do gen , to think, not thinkin g as awareness gradually moves

from the head to the bo dy 's vital center located in the solar plexus. Eventually, the

cultivator may experience the dawning of a deep calm or groundedness, which

Doge n terms the

dharma

gate of great ease and joy, ^^ brought abou t by the gradual

dissolution of the discrim inating mind in the body.

Zazen

has often been erroneously equated with Oriental quietism or a

withdrawal from the world of action. However, the purpose of just sitting is the

cultivation of mindfu lness — a relaxed concentration and focus on the task at

hand. Ideally, there sho uld be little difference between the mind-body

of zazen

and

that engaged in activity. As a means of strengthening the mindftilness cultivated

in zazen,

Dogen p rescribed proper forms

(katachi)

for daily activities such

as

eating,

walking, and worship.̂ ^

Similarly, Ze am i did not see art and life as two distinct spheres of endeavor. In

the Kakyô ( Mirror Held to the Flower ), he indicates that the intensity of mind

that the actor exhibits in mom ents of non-action or paus es in the action should

be carried over to everyday activity as a means of strengthening the actor's

concentration an d attention: Such attitudes need not be limited to the moments

involved in actual perform ance. Morning and night alike, and in all the activities

of daily life, an actor m ust nev er abandon h is concentration. ^^ (Stanislavski voiced

a similar idea in

An Actor Prepares.y^

Disciplining the Bo dy in N o Training (Keiko)

Throu ghout his treatises Z eami d raws strong parallels between training in the

Two Arts {nikyoku, song and dance) and Zen cultivation. In the Kakyô, he w rites

that training in the Two A rts serves to cultivate and prepare the acto r's mind and

body for the eventual blossoming of his artistry. Citing a hymn drawn from the

seventh-century Chines e Zen (Ch 'an) master Huinêng, Zeami implies by analogy

that training in the T wo Arts is comparable to Zen cultivation in that both involve

physical disciplines as a mean s to attaining mastery.


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Before he [the actor] can know the Flower, he must know the

seed. The flower blooms from the imaginat ion; the seed

represents merely the various skills of our art. In the words of an

ancient sage:

The mind-ground contains the various seeds

(tane),

With the all-pervading rain each and every one sprouts.

Once one has suddenly awakened to the sentiency of

the flower.

The fruit of enlightenment matures of itself

The Buddhist interpretation of Huine ng's hymn is that each of us carries the seeds

(tane)

of enlightenment within in that we possess the original mind-ground of

Buddha nature. Howe ver, the flower

(hana)

of enlightenment will not bloom

unless we cultivate our mind according to Buddhist teachings ( rain ). Perhaps

inspired by Dogen's writings on the importance of disciplining the body as the

path to enlightenment ( seed ), the way that Zeami applies this passage to

no

training means performing techniques

(waza)

or, more generally, in Yuasa's

interpretation of the term , the mod e of bein g a body.̂ ^ The ac tor plants the seeds of

his artistry through life long physical training in w hich the dance and chant become

secon d nature — ^beyond the c ontrol of the rationa l mind.̂ ^

By systematizing

n o

training and grounding it in The Two

Arts,

Zeami created

a training methodology that aimed at overcoming the mind in the mastered body.

As defined by Nagatomo, training

(keiko)

means to put one 's body in a certain

form (kata). Specifically, it means an acquisition of various performing techniques

(waza)

by means of

appropriating

modalities of one's body. It is a process of

bodily acquisition

(taitoku) ^^

in which the actor leams by im itating forms handed

down by tradition and shaped b y the master. Originality and spontaneity, valued in

Westem, actor training methodologies, are seen only as the end products of a system

of rote leam ing. W ith

time,

the chant and dance become rooted in the body-memory.

As in the Zen cultivation practice of just sitting, the body become s mind.

Like medieval B uddhist practices of mo ving m editation, the repetitive training

in no mime-dance fiinctions to still the mind and tum it inward.^^ Meditation in

motion trained the cukivator to look into the interior of the mind by placing the

body in continual movem ent at the center of which is a core of stillness and calm.

As the cultivator mo ves his

body,

w hether through continuous w alking or repeating

prescribed movements over and over, the mind gradually ceases to respond to

outside sensory stimuli ^'̂ —a state para doxic ally term ed in Budd hism as stillness

in mofion

(dochu no sei),

in which the mind does not cling to any particular


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object, but dwells at the core of all activity with the calm imm ovab ility

characterizing no min d

(mushin)?^

The no mime-dance

An exa mination of the

no

mime -dance reveals the reorganization of the postural

tonus of the b ody, the limitation and simplification of movement, and the focusing

of the m ind inwa rd on the bod y's vital center that characterize seated and m oving

cultivation practices.

The

no

m ime-dance is an art of posture more

so

than

movement.

The immobility

of zazen

is to be found in the stance and carriage of the dance pattems

(kata),

which, according to Kunio Komparu, are the bases . . . of the acquisition of the

technique of non-movement. ^^

Kata

are essentially sculptural forms, derive d from

a basic standing position (kamae), that are carried through space by a progression

or walk

(hakobi).

The

kamae

m ight be described as a standing version of the seated

zazen

posture. In both postures, the pelvis inclines forward, the back extends straight

up from the pelvis, shoulders are relaxed and slightly back, arms are rounded (as

though holding an egg under each armpit), and the body leans slightly forward.

Most importantly, the center o f gravity in both postures is located two inches below

the navel in the abdomen— ^variously referred

to as

the

seika-no-itten, tanden ,

and

hara.

The immobility of the zazen posture and the bound quality of the no mime-

dance are a psycho-physical technique that develops the individual's will and

conc entration. (Stanislavski and Etienne Decroux w ere both aware of the pow er of

imm obility to intensify the actor's w ill. In

An Actor Prepares,

Stanislavski writes

of imm obility as a me ans of deve loping the actor's inner intensity. ) ^^

Breath in Zen Cultivation

Counting breaths, or other focused breathing practices during

zazen,

assists

the cultiva tor in op ening a path that relocates the mind deeply within. Each breath

melts away the habitual tension, signifying the mind's grip on the body, while

training th e cultivator to disengage from the affective responses to sensation and

emo tion arising in the mind and body. Prolonged sitting with attention to the breath

leads to th e strengthen ing o f focus and augmentation of the vital flow of energy in

the body . As the cu ltivator is gradually freed from the tyranny of thoughts, images,

and e mo tions, a lum inous field begins to open up within, signifying the fronting of

the body as the lived modality of being in the world.

With time, the discriminating mind that intervenes to adjust the posture or

will the b reath is silenced, and the body breathes of its own accord. The cu ltivator

beg ins to experien ce a sense of attun em enf that Nagatomo defined as felt inner

resonance (kanno dókó) with the rhythm s of nature.' ^' Dogen writes, the zazen of

even one person at one moment imperceptibly accords with all things and fully


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138 Journa l of Dram atic Theory and Criticism

resonates through all

time. ^^

Breath creates an oceanic feeling of the body merging

with nature. As distance between mind and body is overcome, so is distance between

self (posited here as a unity of mind and body) and the world. When the

discriminating mind that inserts itself between the perc eiver a nd the perceived is

extinguished, according to Dogen, The total body (zenshin) is a total mind ' ̂ ̂ or

the One Mind of Buddha.

The Place of Breath in the N6

N6 training, as designed by Z eami, reveals a dee p, experiential knowledge of

the power of

the

breath to dissolve the bounda ries of the eg o-self and to relocate

the mind in the tanden. According to Ze ami's son-in-law and artistic heir, Komparu

Zenchiku (1405 -1468 ), Bre ath, is the essenc e of performance.' ^ ^ Zeam i writes

breath using the term

ki {ch'i

in Chinese), *^ which Nearman translates as

activ ating force.' ^^ Ki energy is the life force that animates nature and the human

being as a microcosm. W hile it is found throughout the body, it is concentrated in

the

tanden.

In Zen

shugyo,

breath is the principle technical means of strengthening and

augmenting the vital ki energy in the tanden. Accoxdm g to Mike Samayama, When

breathing is concentrated at the

tanden,

each exhalation releases tension in the

upper body and gathers the strength of the body in the tanden. This causes energy

to radiate throu gh the b ody and perfect its form.' '̂̂ S imilarly, training in the Two

Arts serves to cultivate the actor's

tanden

as the source of his vital and creative

energy. In his writings, Zeam i calls the actor a vessel of nature using a character

that is pronounced

ki

(see glossary, second character is the one used by Zeam i in

this case) and that sometimes ca rries the meaning of skill or ability. Zeami w rites,

It has been said that the fundamental properties of dance and song have always

arisen from the Budd ha natu re that is stored in all sentient beings.' ^^ In the Nearman

translation, the Buddha na ture that is stored in all sentient being s is translated as

the storehouse of Nyo rai Buddha.''*^

Throughout a lifetime of training in the Two Arts beg inning at age seven, the

actor's breath gradua lly settles in the tanden, so that the body q ua breath becomes

the source of his creativity rather than the d iscriminating mind. Repetitive practice

of the conventional dances of the n o trains the actor to disengage movem ent from

the mind's control. Zeami indicates in his treatises that the acto r's mind should not

wander as he focuses assiduously on perfecting the Two Arts. He must have a

mom ent-to-moment focus in his work that grounds his mind an d body on the tasks

of dancing and singing in order to prepare the way for the body to perform without

the insertion of the controlling m ind.

Just

as zazen

assists the cultivator in achieving felt inner resonance with the

phenomenal world, n o training assists the actor in rec onnecting with the universal

rhythms of

life.

Zeami viewed all things in the unive rse partaking of a universal


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structuring principle called

jo-ha-kyû:

good and bad, large and small, with life

and without partake of the process of o , ha , and kyû From th e chirp of the bird to

the buzzing of insects. ^° The term s

jo, ha, kyu

mean beginning

(jo),''

breaking

away/through (ha), and rapid (kyu) and are roughly equivalent to the breath's

tri-partite structure, consisting of a pause before the inhalation, rising inhalation,

and exhalation.

An actor who has thoroughly absorbed the order of

o-ha-kyû

and made the

process a natural part of himself, Zeami writes in the Shûgyoku tokka ( Finding

Gems,

Gaining Flower s ), is one who creates a sense of Fulfillment

(jôju)

in the

a u d ie n c e .B y Ful f i l lment , Zeami appears to be saying that the actor 's

performance brings the audience into accord with the universal rhythms of life.

Since the source of the acto r's performance lies in the

tanden,

breath is the vehicle

that brings both the actor and audience into accord.

Chanting in Zen Cultivation

Chanting of sutra texts plays an important part in Zen cultivation where,

accompanied by bells and percu ssion instruments, it often b egins and ends periods

oizazen. Chan ting serve s several vital, technical purpo ses beyond its obvious ritual

and instructional significanc e. On its most basic level, it regulates the cultivator's

breath and opens up the

tanden.

Deep breaths m ust be taken to sustain the lengthy

passages of text that are intoned with drawn out vowel sounds. Since the chanting

is generally a group activity, the cultivator is urged and constrained by the effort

and example of his cohorts not to break the intoned phrase with an inopportune

breath. The vibrations of the prolonged vowel tones resonate deeply within the

body dissolving tension and o pening the cultivator's inner ear to the vibrations in

the meditation hall. Group effort leads to an augmentation of energy that carries

the cultivator to a greater level of spiritual intensity and concentration so that,

when the chanting abruptly ce ases, the resonating and pregnant silence that follows

forms a startling contrast that acutely attunes the cultivator to the vast emptiness

(ku)

of the universe. E mptied of tension by the intense vibrations of the chant, the

exertion in sustaining breath, and the profound, reverberating silence of the

aftermath, the cultivator commences

zazen

with a deepened sense of

mushin,

variously translated as One Mind, no-body, or no-mind.

The vibratory and tonal q uality of chanted, sung, and spoken language touches

the individual's soma on a level below cognition, opening his mind qu a body to the

tme essence of all things (Buddha-nature—

shô).

The importance of oral/aural

tradition in Zen Cultivation, as Bernard Faure points out, has been largely

overlooked by scholars .In Zen Buddhist t radi t ion, sounds and words have

frequently been the pretext that brings about sudden enlightenment. Nagatomo


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140 Journal of Dra matic Theo ry and Criticism

states that of the five sensory organs, the ears are the most open to the extemal

world in

zazen

and are, therefo re, the organ most susc eptible to stimulation.̂ ^ He

relates that Dogen reached enlightenment upon hearing the words that Master

Nyojô spoke.^ ^ In Ch'an and Zen Buddhist tradition, a powerful connection exists

between words, as sounds rather than meaning. (In a similar vein, Grotowski

experimented with the vibratory power of ritual songs to take over the body and

suggest impulse and movement.̂ ^ He discove red that the tonal vibration s of certain

ancient songs affected a becom ing one with the song and compares their power

to Hindu or Buddhist mantra, a sonic form, very elaborate which englobes the

position of the body and the breathing. )^^

Breath and Chant in the No

Zeami indicates that the breath originating in the actor's tanden is the source

not only of his artistry, but also of the chant and m ovem ent. M otoyoshi, quotes his

father (Zeami) as saying to tmly grasp the deep and tme principles of the chant,

one must first master the fundam entals of exhalation and inha lation, train the voice,

leam to color melodies, and thus arrive at immovable heights of an art founded on

a mastery of the breath. ^ ^ According to Zeami, jo can b e said to be represented

by the stage of hearing the pitch and gathering the breath.

Ha

is represented by

pushing out the breath, and kyû by production of the voice itself. ^ ̂Of these three

parts, 7 0 , the preparation that involves hearing the pitch simultaneously with the

inhalation, is the most cmcial. During performance, the actor inhales the chant

into his tanden, attuning his pitch to its vibratory, sound energy. Carried on the

path of his exhalation, the vibratory energy of the chant engages his body in

movement.

Th e

no

texts, which are rich in the poetic language of imagery and allusion,

create meaning by the careful juxtaposition of wo rds as soun ds that convey emotion,

which hovers above and beyond the words as mea ning. Since the purpose of the no

texts is the lyrical evocation of the m ost deeply felt em otions of the

shite,

it is this

vibratory energy of words as sound carried on the long drawn out vowels of the

chanted text to which Zeami seems to be referring in the

Fûshikaden,

when he

says that the performer m ust grasp the inner mus ic of the chant.^^

Sound energy originating in the

tanden

is carried on the breath and engages

the body in dance, manifesting in visible outer form the em otion contained in the

text. Like the chant, the dan ce partakes of the tri-partite stmc ture of the breath. The

late

no

actor Kanze Hisao notes that the abstract

kata sashikomi/hiraki,

which is

considered a stmctural elem ent of the no dance because o f its frequent occurrence,

is a technique that manag es or controls breathing itself In an instant the surrounding

space is congealed, then relaxed and released. Along with these movements,

spectators breathe. They breathe , as one, the supercharge d air and space. ^°


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Fall 2003 141

Zeami was concemed with the power of the chant to affect the spectator's

sense of hea ring at a level be low cog nition in such a way as to bring about sudden

insight. In the

Nôsakusho (Sandô),

a treatise on playwriting, Zeami states that it is

important for the playwright/com poser to open the

ears

of his audience: Opening

the ears refers to a blending of verbal understanding and musical sensation into

one aural source of appreciation. ^^ Richard Pilgrim translates opening the

audience's ears as opening the audience's kokoro ear, indicating that the task of

the writer and actor, according to Zeam i,

is

to convey the emotional

kokoro

contenf

of the play in order to open the hearts and minds {kokoro) of the audience members.

The im portance that Zeam i places on the emotive power of the chanted text was no

doubt influenced, in part, by the Bu ddhist aural tradition. (While Stanislavski says

little about the p lace of breath in actor training, he seems to have been aware of the

existence of the flow of vital energy in the body and its connection to the breath. In

a section in

An Actor Prepares

entitled Com mun ion, he tells of experimenting

with the Hindu concept of

Prana

(breath) to link the mind and solar plexus.^^

Although Stanislavski was able to experience a connection between the rational

mind and the body, he still continued to view the two as diametrically opposed.

For him, the brain was the seat of consciou sness and the solar plexus the seat of

emotion. )

Overcoming the

Self:

Generating the Actor's Focus

When the actor tries to imitate something, he manipulates his body as an

ob je ct ... but he transcends the break between his body and mind when

he

attempts

to 'become' the character. ^^

From the age of seven to fifteen, the actor seeks to master the Two Arts through

relentless repetition of forms modeled by the master. While training gradually quiets

and focuses the actor's mind inward on the

tanden

at the body's vital center, he

remains at the level of

mushufu

— various ly transla ted, literally as style without

mastery ^^ and functionally as Extemalization ^^— where his mind continues to

direct and control his body. His performance will never be more than a m echanical

imitation of his teacher unless he can access the creative source of

his

art located

in a unified mind-body.

Ze am i's gen ius was to recognize the transformative power of role play and to

make it the focus of actor training beginning at age fifteen. His writings on role

play reflect a realiza tion that the m aturing actor needs special challenges in order

to thoroughly internalize tech nique and m ake it his own. Perhaps inspired by Zen

kôan practice, which keeps the cultivator from lapsing into sterile, self-absorbed

contem plation, Z eam i raised role play from the superficial mimicry of the earlier

sarugaku to an art of yushufu— style with mastery ^^ or Intemalization ^'^—

capable of ge nerating the intense concentration that could lead the actor's mind to

fully penetrate his body.


12/30


A true master, according to Zeam i, is one who recognizes the nature of the

differences between extem al skill and interior understan ding

^̂

Zeami's distinction

between extemal and intemal acting ( Style Without and With Mastery ) is similar

to Westem notions of presentational versus representational acting. Imitation

(monomane),

as Zeami uses the term with regard to role play, encompasses both

types of acting. On the one hand, it means to copy e xtem al details of the role, such

as carriage, gesture, action, and

dress,

and

to

convey these

as

rea listically

as

possible.

However, if the actor were to stop his training at the level of extemalization, he

might be termed a presentational actor who acts with an awareness of technique.

Such acting, according to Zeam i, is to be despised. ^^ On

the

other hand,

monomane

also means to physically and me ntally merge with the chara cter's mental-emotional

state, which Zeami calls interior essenc e (hon-i).

The act of becom ing or mas tering (yushufu) the role is the catalyst that

brings about mind-body unity in performance. The no actor, according to Zeami,

seeks to understand the character ' s

hon-i

(true intent)—roughly similar to

Stanislavski ' s supe r-obje ct ive or deepest mo tivat ion. How ever, unl ike

Stanislavskian acting, he does not search his memory for images or feelings to

trigger his becoming the

role:

His approach is purely extemal. Zea mi's conception

of role play and, indeed, his whole theory of acting reflects the Zen concept of

anatman—^the

belief that there is no independently arising self natur e and that to

search for it with the rational mind is futile. Rather than encumbering his mind

with fruitless self-analysis, the actor lets go of any ideas abou t the role at the time

of performance and focuses single-mindedly on the character's

hon-i,

allowing it

to totally fill his psyche. Only an actor who has overcome his own ego is able to

empathize fully with the character and convey its precise inner, emotional reality

to the audience.

Kdan Practice and Overcoming the Self n Z en Shugyo

There is a danger in

zazen

of falling into sterile contemplation and self-

absorption without a single point of concentration to focus the mind and develop

the will power that is necessary to break through the m iasma of endlessly arising

sense perceptions, thoughts, im ages, and emotions. In Buddhist practice, mind and

body are not seen as mutually exclusive. As a means to get to the body through the

mind, Buddhist cultivation has also traditionally included the study of Buddhist

doctrines, sutras, and koan of the great masters of Buddhist tradition. Kdan are

paradoxical, absurd statements or actions of the patriarchs that cannot

be

understood

by the rational mind. The Z en m aster prescribes a particular kdan for the monk to

serve as a focus for his concen tration d uring zazen and, indeed, through all moments

of his waking life.^̂ Ac cord ing to

D. T.

Suzuki,

satori

is achieved in

koan

practice

by the most intensely active exercise of all the fundamental faculties constituting

one's

personality.

They are

here

positively concentrated on a single object of though t,


13/30

Fall 2003 143

which is called a state of oneness (ekagra). It is also known as a state of daigi or

'fixation.' ^' In Rinzai Z en, the only wa y to solve the essentially unsolvable

koan,

according

to

Toshihiko Isutsu,

is by

becoming

the

kôan

or

becoming com pletely

one with

the

kôan^'

so

that there

is no

room

for the

discursive mind

to

intrude.

The cultivator's desperate search for an answer generates tension in the mind and

body that may ultimate ly lead to the great moment o f enlightenment (satori) when

the rational, everyday mind is broken through and extinguished.^^

Role Play and

Kôan

Practice

The actor's intense concentration on the hon-i of the role in performance

functions a nalogou sly to Zen kôan practice to bring about the actor's confrontation

with the foundations of his temporal personality and the blossoming forth of his

true artistry. Kanz e Tetsunôjô, a contemporary no actor in Zeami's lineage says,

Keiko,

training, truly starts only after

the

arduous course

in

singing

and

moving

is

over, when through those means

of

expression and on their basis we start

to

cope with our own 's el f

Then the dan cing skills take on person al traits and the character

comes to life on stage. In fact the whole of Zeami's theory is

devoted

to

this subject.^ ^

While Kan ze Tetsunôjô speaks of copin g with the se lf w hen performing a

role, another contemporary actor of the Kanze school, Tsumura Reijirô, says that

his decision to perform the

shite

role in the

no

play

Dôjôji

w as a desire to confront

mysel f throughout the piece. ^^ Such statements would seem to reflect an

epistemology influenced by mo dem , Westem conceptions of an

ego-self.

How ever,

they may also reflect Buddh ist-inspired notions of overcoming the limited ego self

that were central

to

medieval a ctor training as Zeami conc eived it. Dogen states

in

th e

Genjô Kôan,

To study the Buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is

to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by the myriad things, ^^

which according

to

Kyotaka Kimura means

to

becom e free

of

any consciousness

of self and all discriminative judgments and to commune with the embodiment of

tmth that resides in all that exists. ^^

Constraining

the

Body

to Get at the

Mind: The

A^̂

Mask

The

no

mask

is the

vehicle

by

which

the

actor confronts

and

overcomes

his

ego-centered mind in the act of role play.^ ̂The actor first wears the mask in the

role

of

Okina,

in a

coming

of

age ceremony

(genpuku)

when

the

actor

has the

appearance of a fully-grown man at the age of fifteen. ^^ The ma sk functions lik e

th e zazen posture

to tum the

mind inward

on the

breath

at the

body's vital center.

By limiting vision and co nstraining natural impulses for movem ent, the mask severs


14/30


the senses' connection with the ex temal w orld and, thus, the performer's ability to

constitute an ego-self The m ask is a microcosm of the restraints placed upon the

actor's bod y that, in denying individualistic and n atural expression, assists him in

contacting the creativity that is the source of his art. Acco rding to Kanze Hisao,

[T]he actor is not only constrained by a cumbersome, many-

layered costume, he is bound hand and foot by the prescribed

posture called the kamae and the walking style known as hakobi.

. . . By sealing off the use of obvious expressive m ethods and

natural physicality, the pure life essence of the humanity of the

actor is broug ht to th e fore.̂ ^

The mask functions to sugg est the essence of he role to the

actor.

Takabayashi

Kôji of the Kita School notes that the mask becomes the center of the emotional

expression of the stage figure. It is the face of a person with whom the actor seeks

to become one.^' As the actor is drawn out of his entrenched ego-self into

identification with the hon-i of the role through the examination of the mask's

features (those of the face—

men),

he turns it over and contemplates its dark side

(ura).

The black interior of the mask exerts a pull on the a ctor's psyche away from

the limited, temporal self toward a radical confrontation with the vast emptiness of

Buddh a nature.^^ Like the Ze n adept—^who, in assum ing the postu re of the Buddha

in zazen, becomes as though dead, a living corpse—^the no actor enters a void

where his discriminating mind is suspended, and the dark consc iousnes s

comprising the pre-expressive level of his ingrained body technique rises to meet

the mask. As the actor places the mask over his face, he cuts the moorings of his

discriminating mind in a radical confi-ontation with the ground of his original self

or Buddha Nature—the void of Non-Being experienced on the mask's dark side.

In a discussion of the Bud dhist doctrines of Being (u) and N on-Being {mu) in

his treatise YiÂgaku

shûdo fuken

( D isciplines for Joy ), Zeam i provides a clue as

to how the mask might signify both the dual nature and virtual unity of a person.

As for the principle of Being and Non-Being [expressed in the

doctrine of Buddhism], Being might be said to represent the

extemal m anifestation that can be seen with the

eyes.

Non-being

can be said to represent the hidden, fundamental readiness of

mind that signifies the vessel of all art [since a vessel itself is

empty].

It is the fundamental No n-Being

{mu)

that gives rise to

the outward sense of Being

(u )

[in the «o] . . . What gives the

actor the seeds for e ndless flowering in every aspec t of his art is

that interior spiritual power that lies within him.^^


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Fall 2Q03 145

The eyes are the organ of the rational mind or Being in Buddhist thought and, as

such, are only capable of seeing the surface of phenomena. Non-Being signifies

both Buddha nature and the actor's unconscious located in the body.

Kanze Tetsunôjô seems to be referring to the above passage from Zeami when

he speaks of the struggle involved in role play as one between face and

wr


16/30

146 Journal of Dram atic Theo ry and Criticism

oppositions, and withholding of movem ent serve to physica lly articulate the struggle

between the performer's discriminating mind and the body. As the actor concentrates

single-mindedly on the emotional nexus of the character, he constrains his dance

kata to create a greater emotional charge. Zeam i refers to this in the Kakyô with

the saying, Wh at is felt by the heart is ten, what ap pea rs in mo vem ent is seven. '̂̂

Kanze Tetsunôjô remarks on this process in his ow n acting as follows:

While ever3^hing is alive in me, is moving in one direction, a

channel for all my energies, in spite of that, somew here inside I

restrain that mo vemen t with all my strength. Following it, I go

against it, as if I wanted to stop for a while and ponder once

again whether I am for certain doing what I want. Still , I

inevitably go where the fate of the character leads me. Going

and keeping myself from going becomes the focal point of the

drama.

The techniques of opposition involved in role play embody the actor's spiritual

meditation on the nature of human imperfection, h is ow n and that of the character,

which are overcome in enlightened perception

{kan)

at the highest levels of

performance. One of the main characteristics of the no according to Kanze

Tetsunôjô, is the reflection on wh y

a

human be ing performs a forbidden act and is

unable to stop making such choices . . . ^^ The oscillations of the actor's energy

{ki) mirror the charac ter's stmgg le to understand his fate. As Herbert Benoit states

with regard

to koan

study, it is precisely the fmitless attem pt

to

seize the unseizable

sentiment which results in the awa kening of the fundamental mind. ^^ The actor's

focus on character's tem poral emo tions in pursuit of the

hon-i

can trigger m oments

of awakening that open both actor and audience to the impermanent and non-

substantial nature of reality. Like the Zen cultivator, wh o seeks to solve the riddle

of his ow n nature

in the koan,

the actor stmggles with his own spiritual limitations—

embodied as corporeal resistance—through the vehicle of the role. The actor's

single-minded concentration on the physical articulation of the cha racter's em otional

landscape provides a technical focal point that may ultimately bring about the

actor's dropping off of mind and body. ^' (Etienne Decroux mad e resistance and

contrasts in movement the basis of corporeal mime technique and aesthetics as a

means to develop the actor's will—^these ideas were later picked up by Jerzy

Grotowski and Eugenio Barba. However, corporeal mim e's oppositional movement

was not designed to generate mind-body unity. Rather, it was the corporeal

embodiment of political stmggle.)


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Fall 2003 147

Opening the Actor's S piritual Heart (Kokoro)

Techniques of o pposition and withholding, which are encoded into the dance

kata

and intensified b y the w earing of the ma sk, can bring about the opening of the

actor's spiritual heart (kokoro) in performance.^ ̂ Kokoro, as used by Zeami,

signifies va rying con stellations o f mind-body un ity metaphorically located in the

heart. On its most ba sic level,

kokoro

refers to the function of the actor's c onscious

mind comprised of a unity of emotion, thought, and will.^^ Richard Pilgrim writes,

Just as most usage s of

kokoro

contain an element of feeling and emotion, there is

also a sense in which almost all usages of kokoro include some aspect of the rational,

object-centered mind

(yôjin)'''^'̂

As the actor progresses in his training, the nature

of this unity cha nges and m ay one day enable the actor to attain a state of

mushin,

a Zen Buddhist term for the unconscious, void, spontaneous, instinctual, a priori

mind. ^^ The highest form of

kokoro

constituting a fully unified mind-body is the

kokoro o f naishin, or the one mind linking all artistic powers.^^ While Zeami uses

different terminolog y throu ghout his treatises to analyze the quality of the

kokoro

operative at any given moment,

kokoro

always includes the undivided totality of

the acto r's mind, bo dy, em otion, will, and spirit—in other words, varying degrees

of mind-body unity. (Interestingly, Stan islavski's conception of the interaction of

the actor 's Inner Mo tive Forc es of feeling, mind, and will is roughly equivalent

to Zeam i's conception of kokoro.)'^''

The actor's beco min g one with the character liberates both his personal

creative expression and h is ingrained corporeal technique leading to the possibility

of the role being performed by a unified kokoro at the highest levels of performance.

At such moments, the trained body of the master actor overtakes his mind and

senses of its own accord how the styles should be performed. Tetsunôjô says of

this experience with regard to his own acting,

[A]t the onset I always ha ve to assume some principle of how I

am going to play. But when on stage it happens that although I

have frequently thought here I will do this and there that,

suddenly I forget completely what it was supposed to be. Or

even remem bering, I give up my plans. And then who 1 really

am reveals itself—my own life, the state of my soul, its

imp erfec tions, its shakiness come s out from beyond the part. ^^

Kanze Tetsunôjô's statem ent that who he really is appears from beyond the part

constitutes an ope ning in the performance into the realm of the absolute, the One

Mind, which contains all things, including the imperfect heart of the

actor.

At such

mom ents the actor w ould experience the surfacing of the preconscious or hidden

aspects of the body as a powerful feeling of flow —as if carried along by a huge

current that moves through the universe, erasing boundaries and sweeping away


18/30

148 Journal of Dra matic Theor y and Criticism

the temporal self—uniting actor, audience, and the world of the play in a seamless

epiphany.

Mom ents of unified kokoro signifying that the actor has overcome m ind-body

duality are rare for the most part the

no

actor retains varying degrees of a wareness

of his performance. K anze Tetsunôjô believes that the actor cannot and should

not even try to identify himself totally with the character he is playing: I alwa ys

remain entirely aware of where and who I am—Kanze Tetsunôgô, with my own

specific form of existence, experience, and even biology. ^^ Zeami also speaks

about the importance of

the

actor maintaining his awareness during performance

so that he is able to judg e his performance, as it were, from the standpoint of the

audience (riken no ken)}^ ̂Yet Zeami makes it clear that it is the trained body that

senses and responds mom ent to mom ent in the performance of a master actor rather

than the discriminating mind.

The concentration and exertion to withhold and modulate energy leaves the

no

actor perspiring and frequently exhausted by the end of the performance; but

such a psycho-spiritual technique exists as a means of attaining those rare mo ments

that Zeami speaks of as Peerless Charm . Here, all traces of tension are gone and

the actor has become a vessel, performing with an ease of spirit that can be

compared to the boundlessness of nature itself

'° '

Frank Hoff writes.

At the pinnacle of his system and theory of the arts Zeam i placed

that which lies beyond language. H e calls it myo [the marvelous].

It is a realm of insight

[satori]

reached after ex haustive training.

As I see it, . . . [i]t is the realm of mu\ it is the realm of ku

[emptiness]. It is the realm of transcendent existence, where

emptiness gives birth to ev erything.

Opening the Audience's Spiritual Heart

Perhaps influenced by the Buddhist Great Vow to save all sentient beings

through o ne's practice, Zeami viewed

the

actor's self-cuhivation from the standpoint

of compassion. He saw the a ctor's perfection as a m eans of imparting a taste of the

One True Reality opening the audience's

kokoro.

T he actor of the highest reputation

is one who achieves an intensity of pure feeling that goes beyond the workings of

the mind , that causes the audience to enter a void whe re judgm ent is replaced by

Feeling that Transcends Cognition

(mushinkan). ^^^

Zeam i also refers to this type

of acting as no that succee ds through the Heart. '̂ '^

If the actor is not focused on the audience's response, he risks falling into

egoistic delusion. The performance of a truly accomplished actor is marked by

simplicity and humility

(nyuwd)

reflecting his inner wor k on himself The empty

and still mind of the actor can be said to manifest form is em ptiness and emptiness

is form. '^^ Similarly, Zeami urges enlightened spectators, awakened by the


19/30

Fa ll 2Q03 149

Postscript on M ind-Bod y Unity in Stanislavskian-Based Actor Training

The impersonal, abstract, and conventional nature of the

no

actor's art would

seem to have little correlation with the modem, realistic acting methodology

developed by Konstantin Stanislavski (1863-1938) that has become the basis of

much of Westem actor training. Yet Stanislavski, like Zeami, grappled with the

problem of how the actor achieves a tmly creative state in performance in which

he be co me s the role without the interference of the mind. While Stanislavski

even tually came to view the disciplined body as key to the actor's organicity (living

the role without the insertion of the mind), he was never able to overcome a

materialist bias that saw the actor's body as an instmment to be played upon by a

superior mind. Unfortunately, it is this tendency that remains today in Westem

actor training rather than the discovery, late in his career, that the trained body is

the

prima materia

of the a ctor's art and that

it is the

portal

to

the spiritual dimensions

of acting as well.

Stanislavski viewed the actor

as

divided between

a

conscious mind and a hidden

subc onsc ious, which he believed was the ground of the actor's creativity. His

psy cho techn ique enables the actor to influence the otherwise inaccessible

subconscious by constmcting mental and physical stimuli that seek to elicit

appro priate, reflexive, physical responses that lead to the actor becom ing or living

the r ole. Althoug h there is no evidence that Stanislavski was familiar with Zeam i's

theo ries, he uses the terms seed s and flowering as metaphors for the actor's

organicity. In Creating a Role, he states that the see ds of the actor's art lie in the

me ntal stimuli sewn on the groun d of the body/subconscious, the physical being

of a part is a good ground for the seed of the spiritual being to grow in. Scatter

mo re of such seed s. To his fictive stud ent's question about what he means by

scatte r, Tortsov (Stanislavski) replies, create more 'magic if's, ' proposed

circumstances, imaginative ideas. '^^ These inner, creative, psycho-technique

seeds ,

whic h Stanislavski calls the function of the actor's mind, are tossed

incom parab le, fleeting be auty of the actor 's performance, to exhaust analysis and

to open them selves to the vast emptiness of Buddha nature. Forget the specifics

of a performance and exa mine the whole. Then forget the performance and examine

the actor. Then forget the actor and examine his inner spirit. Then forget that spirit,

and you will grasp the nature of the wd.' ^^ While Zeami clearly recognized the

necessity for critical analysis, he understood that only when the rational mind

exhausts itself in a search to discover what is essentially unfathomable can one

expe rience a taste of enlightenment. According to Mark Nearman, [T]he actor

has assisted the spe ctator in mov ing toward a more developed spiritual state to the

degr ee that the a ctor is capa ble of producing effects that keep the spectator focused

on the performance even without 'thought' arising. '^^


20/30

150 Journal of Dram atic Theory and Criticism

into the subconscious or super con scio usn ess ... beyond the tutelage of the mind.

Stanislavski compares the subconscious by analogy to the storehouse of our most

important spiritual material. '^° It is interesting that in his discussion of the sub or

super conscious here and throughout his writing, Stanislavski equates it with

nature in a manner similar to Zea mi's vessel of nature . The actor's flowering

is

the opening of his inner creative life beyond the range of [his] consciousness. ^''

At the end of his career, Stanislavski came to realize that emotion, thought,

and feeling are centered in the body and that physical action w as a more direct and

concrete means of stimulating the actor's creativity. Vasily Toporkov, who worked

with Stanislavski in the last years of his life on the Method of Physical Actions,

relates that Stanislavski called the actor a master of physical actions and had

urged his students to bu m all his early ideas regardin g the acto r's psycho

technique. Stanislavski's Method of Physical Actions rests on the contention that

carefully constmcted rhy thmic sequences of physical actions, discovered through

improvisation on the dram atic text, better stimulate the subconscious than mental

stimuli. Seed s, in the Method of Physical Actions, had evolved to mean the

actor's tasks, or the through line of action. ^ Stanislavski understood that the

actor's organicity blossoms when the body takes over as doer of the action producing

images, thought, and feeling that constitute living the role. Toporkov describes the

results achieved in a performance of Tartuffe by a group of actor's who had worked

for many months with Stanislavski on the M ethod of Phy sical Actions, as a novel

opening of their talent like a sudden flowering.' '^

Stanislavski was moving toward a tmly body-centered, rather than a mind-

centered, approach to acting, but at the time of his death his system was still

dominated by the intellect. Wh ile the improvising body is allowed to freely discover

the actions comprising the scor e of

the

role in the M ethod of Physical Actions,

the actor's mind functions to select and editorialize. The score is then fixed and

sedimented into the body memory through extended rehearsal—in effect becoming

second nature. Habituating the body ideally frees the mind to observe the body

in action, giving rise to a dual consciou sness in which the trained actor is able to

dispassionately obse rve the self

in

performance. However, unlike Zeam i's concept

of riken no ken, dual consciousn ess does not involve a vantage point from the

audience. It is primarily a se lf view originating in an acting methodology that

privileges the mind and ego over the body. In Stanislavski's method, the mind is

strengthened by its dominant role in the creative pro cess and has difficulty being

still. Thomas Richards, in his work with Grotowski on Stanislavski's Method of

Physical Actions, discovered that while physical actions stir(s) the 'great tmth' of

thoughts, emotions, experien ces the mind must leam the right way to be passive

or get out of the way so that the body can think for itself' ̂ As the resuh of

extensive physical work, Richard 's relates that his . . . m ind started to leam that it

was not the unique m ler, that the body also has its own way of thinking, if the mind


21/30

Fall 2003 151

would just let the body do its job. As my m ind started to leam to be m ore passive,

my body had an open field in which to be active. ' '^

The emphasis on the mind's control in Westem actor training goes hand in

hand w ith the encoura gem ent of the actor's eg o. The Westem a ctor has been led to

focus on his individuality and uniquene ss and to engage in self-use in acting that

privileges this unique ness . The effacement of the ego that is an integral part of the

process of

no

training is not valued in the West because of the erro neous belief that

it wo uld strip the perfo rmer of his creativity. When Stanislavski cautions the actor,

neve r lose yourself on stage . . . Alw ays act in your own person, as an artist. You

can neve r get away from yourself. '' ̂ He strengthens the actor's focus on himself,

away from the discovery of any larger, ego-less conception of being in the world.

The incredulous response of Stanislavski's students that they are being asked to

always play themselves from moment to moment is understandable. Art tends to

be a bout that w hich frees the participant and the observer from the particular, local,

and individual. Stanislav ski's statement, Alway s and forever, when you are on

the stage, you must play yourself, is the single most limiting aspect of the

Stanislavski method, as it denies the possibility of the actor moving beyond his

own personal history. Ironically, it is the personal, limiting focus on the actor's

tempo ral ego that is the aspect of Stanislavski's system, through Strasberg's Method,

that has had the most impact on American actor training.

Stanislavski's Method of Physical Actions has had less influence than his

psycho technique on Westem actor training because it demands years of corporeal

training. Like Zeam i, Stanislavski taught that inspired acting could only be achieved

through constant work on

oneself.

Toporkov says in words that echo Zeami, the

mastery of our art toward which Stanislavski urged us seldom comes easily. It

must be achieved by hard, persistent daily work over the course of one's whole

life ' ^'̂ A s a bas is for a phys ical techn ique Stanislavski tau gh t that, in addition

to danc e and gy mna stic exercises, the actor should practice

a

vocabu lary of actions

(suc h as op ening a doo r, picking up a glass, etc.) until they becam e second nature.

Stanislavski tells his students that when they have mastered their bodies, the inner

creative life beyond the range of your consciousness will stir in you of its own

acc ord. Your sub conscio us, your intuition, your experiences from life, your habit

of manifesting human qualities on the stage will all go to work for you, in body

and soul, and create for you. ' '^

W hen Stanislavski spoke about the actor's spirituality in his writings, he

see ms to h ave equ ated it with organicity. But because he never understood that the

body

is

mind, he w as not a ble to fully realize the possibilities for m ind-body unity

in his Metho d of Physical Actions. It remained for Jersy Grotow ski and his disciple

Thomas Richards to explore the spiritual possibilities contained in Stanislavski's

Me thod of Physical Actions. Richard relates that one day while working, Grotowski


22/30


23/30

Fall 2003

Glossary of Japanese Terms

(continued)

kamae

^ X .

kan^

kannôdôkô

WiJlC^ ^^

kata

Jf$

katachi

keiko Î̂ 'È'

kokoro

/L̂

ku/sunyata ^

ki%ox^

kuse

ft

kyû %

maiguse

I5 fl

monomane #lMfÈl

m en

S

mu ^

mushin lù

mushinkan IS'ù̂ Ĵ

mushufu

Him

myo/ :a>

c l ^ f b

SL

naishin rt/ù^

nenbutsu

nikyoku

Z l f t

shimai tÊttS

Notes

JL53

riken no ken W^CD^

sarugaku or^^

satori 1S or :i;

seika-no-itten j^,

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1 . T h e

l̂Ase

i s a r e l a t i v e l y l o n g , c l i m a c t i c m o m e n t i n t h e n o d r a m a i n w h i c h t h e c h o r u s , a c c o m p a n i e d

b y d r u m s , s i n g s a n a r r a t i v e p o e m d u r i n g w h i c h t h e shite ( p r o t a g o n i s t ) e i t h e r r e m a i n s s e a t e d (i-guse) o r

d a n c e s (maiguse).

2. F o r a t r a n s l a t i o n o f Shunkan, s e e Traditional Japane se Theatre, t r a n s . K a r e n B r a z e l l ( N e w

Y o r k : C o l u m b i a U P , 1 9 9 8 ) 1 7 8 - 9 2 .

3 .

Z e a m i M o t o k i y o ,

On the Art of the No Drama: The Major Treatises of Zeami

t r a n s . J. T h o m a s

R i m e r a n d M a s a k a z u Y a m a z a k i ( P r i n c e t o n : P r i n c e t o n U P , 1 9 8 4 ) 9 6 - 9 7 .

4 . Z e a m i M o t o k i y o , ''Kakyô: Z e a m i ' s F u n d a m e n t a l P r i n c i p l e s o f A c t i n g : P ar t T w o , t r a n s, a n d

c o m m e n t a r y M a r k N e a r m a n , Monumenta Nipponica 3 7 ( 1 9 8 2 ) : 4 8 9 .


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154 Journ al of Dram atic Theory and Criticism

5.ZQ2irm,OntheArtoftheNô91.

6 . B e n i t o O r t o l a n i , Z e a m i ' s M y s t e r i o u s F l o w e r : T h e C h a l l e n g e o f I n te r p r e t in g it i n W e s t e m

Tenns:' Japan ese Theatre and the International Stage,

e d . S t a n c a S c h o l z - C i o n c a a n d S a m u e l L. L e i t e r

( L e i d e n : B r i l l , 2 0 0 1 ) .

7 . J o s e p h R . R o a c h , The Player's Passion: Studies in the Science of Acting ( A n n A r b o r : U o f

M i c h i g a n P , 1 9 9 3 ) .

8 . Y a s u o Y u a s a , The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-Body Theory, e d . T . R K a s u l i s , t r a ns . Sh i g e n o r i

N a g a t o m o a n d T . R K a s u l i s ( A l b a n y : S t a t e U o f N e w Y o r k P, 1 9 8 7 ) .

9 . Y a s u o Y u a s a , The Body, Se lf Cultivation, and Ki-Energy, t r a n s . S h i g e n o r i N a g a t o m o a n d M o n t e

S . H u l l ( A l b a n y : S t a t e U o f N e w Y o r k P , 1 9 9 3 ) 7 - 8 .

1 0 .

R i c h a r d B . P i l g r i m , Buddhism and the Arts of Japan ( C h a m b e r s b u r g , P A : A n i m a , 1 9 8 1 ) 1 6 .

1 1 . M o r e g e n e r a l l y t h e a r ti s t ic W a y a s s p i r i t u a l d i s c i p l i n e h a s b e e n u n d e r s t o o d i n J a p a n a s shugyo

o r a s c e t i c d i s c i p l i n e .

Shugyo

i s a ' s e e k i n g a w a y o u t o f a d i l e m m a , ' a n a b s o l u t e l y d e d i c a t e d a n d

c o n c e n t r a t e d d i s c i p l i n e o f b o d y a n d m i n d t h r o u g h s o m e p a r t i c u l a r p r a c t i c e , w i t h t h e p u r p o s e o f b r e a k i n g

t h r o u g h t o s p i r i t u a l f u l f i l l m e n t ( P i l g r i m , Buddhism and the Arts of Japan 4 ) .

1 2 . R i c h a r d W i l k e r s o n , A e s t h e t i c V i r t u e s in t h e C o n t e x t o f N i r v a n i c V a l u e s , Frontiers of

Transculturality in Contem porary Aesthetics Co nference, U n i v e r s i t y o f B o l o g n a : B o l o g n a , I t al y O c t

2 5 - 2 8 , 2 0 0 0 : 3 , o n l i n e < h t t p : / / w w w . u n i b o . i t / t r a n s c u l t u r a l i t y / f i l e > .

1 3 .

S e e Y u a s a , The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-Body Theory 1 0 4 - 1 0 9 .

1 4 .

A f o r m o f f o l k e n t e r t a i n m e n t d a t i n g b a c k t o t h e H e i a n p e r i o d a n d o r i g i n a t i n g i n C h i n a a n d

C e n t r a l A s i a . L i k e t h e G r e c o - R o m a n m i m e s , sarugaku i n c l u d e d a c r o b a t i c s , s o n g s , d a n c e s , a n d s h o r t ,

c o m i c p l a y l e t s p e r f o r m e d b y t r o u p e s o f t r a v e l i n g p e r f o r m e r s . B y Z e a m i ' s t i m e , n a rr a t i ve e l e m e n t s h a d

b e c o m e m o r e i m p o r t a n t .

1 5 .

Z e n h a d r e a c h e d t h e a p e x o f i t s p r e s t i g e a n d d e v e l o p m e n t u n d e r t h e p a t r o n a g e o f t h e A s h i k a g a

s h o g u n a t e ( 1 3 3 8 - 1 5 7 3 ) . A s h i k a g a Y o s h i m i t s u ( 1 3 6 8 - 1 4 0 8 ) , Z e a m i ' s p a t r o n , w a s t h e f o u n d e r o f t h e

J a p a n e s e F i v e M o u n t a i n R i n z a i Z e n t e m p l e s a n d p r a c t i c e d Z e n c u l t i v a t i o n u n d e r t h e g u i d a n c e o f Z e n

m a s t e r G i d ô S h û s h i n . It w a s a l s o t h e A s h i k a g a s h o g u n a t e t h a t f o s t e r e d t h e a r ts a s a r e l i g i o u s p a t h

{do)

o f s p i ri t u a l a t t a i n m e n t w h e r e d i s c i p l i n e i n t h e p a r t i c u l a r f o r m s a n d t e c h n i q u e s o f t h e a r t m a y w e l l b e

u n d e r s t o o d a s t h e b a s i s f o r a s p i r i t u a l d i s c i p l i n e i n w h i c h a r t i s t i c p r o c e s s e s f u n c t i o n a s v e h i c l e s o r

m e a n s fo r s e l f t r a n s f o r m a t i o n ( P i l g r i m , Buddhism and the Arts of Japan 4 4 - 4 5 ) .

1 6 .

T h e Z e n kôan, sutras, s a y i n g s , a n d c o m p l e x B u d d h i s t t e r m i n o l o g y in Z e a m i ' s t r e a ti s e s h a v e

o f t e n b e e n c i t e d a s e v i d e n c e o f B u d d h i s t , a n d i n p a r t i c u l a r , Z e n i n f l u e n c e o n t h e no . A r t h u r T h o r a h i l l

{Six Circles, One Dew Drop [ P r i n c e t o n : P r i n c e t o n U P , 1 9 9 3 ] ) s u g g e s t s t h at , m u c h o f t h e Z e n t e r m i n o l o g y

d e m o n s t r a t e s , a t t h e v e r y l e a s t , e x t e n s i v e c o n t a c t w i t h Z e n c l e r g y ( 1 8 n 3 8 ) . W h i l e a c k n o w l e d g i n g t h e

f r a g m e n t a r y e v i d e n c e l i n k i n g Z e a m i t o Z e n , o t h e r s l i k e T h o m a s B l e n m a n H a r e {Zeami's Style: The

Noh Plays of Zeami Motokiyo [ S t a n f o r d : S t a n f o r d U P , 1 9 8 6 ] 3 1 - 3 2 ) a n d M a r k N e a r m a n (t r a ns , a n d

c o m m e n t a r y , Z e a m i ' s Kyûi: A P e d a g o g i c a l G u i d e f o r T e a c h e r s o f A c t i n g , Monumenta Nipponica 3 3

[ 1 9 7 8 ] : 3 0 1 ) a s s e r t t h a t t h e h i g h l y p e r s o n a l a n d i d i o s y n c r a t i c B u d d h i s t r e f e r e n c e s a n d t e r m s i n Z e a m i ' s

t r e a t i s e s p r i m a r i l y r e f l e c t t h e p r e v a l e n c e o f t h e l a n g u a g e o f Z e n a s t h e d o m i n a n t m o d e o f d i s c o u r s e

d u r i n g t h e M u r o m a c h i p e r i o d .

http://www.unibo.it/transculturality/filehttp://www.unibo.it/transculturality/filehttp://www.unibo.it/transculturality/file


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1 7 .

Ô t o m o T a i s hi , Z e a m i a n d Z e n ,

Zeami and the No Theatre in the World,

e d . B e n i t o O r t o l a n i

a n d S a m u e l L . L e i t e r ( N e w Y o r k : C A S T A , 1 9 9 8 ) 4 7 .

1 8 . S e e Y u a s a , The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-Body Theory, a n d S h i g e n o r i N a g a t o m o ,

Z e a m i ' s C o n c e p t i o n o f F r e e d o m ,

Philosophy East and West?>\

( 1 9 8 1 ) : 4 0 1 - 1 6 .

1 9 .

In a l l p ro b a b i l i t y , Ze a m i wa s a l a y cu l t i v a t o r i n h i s ea r l y y ea r s ra t h er t h a n a m o n k . T h e

c o n s i d e r a b l e d e m a n d s o f r u n n i n g a sarugaku c o m p a n y w o u l d h a v e m a d e i t i m p o s s i b l e f o r h i m t o h a v e

g i v e n u p w o r l d l y p u r s u i t s , t a k e n v o w s , a n d e n t e r e d F u g a n j i m o n a s t e r y . A s a l a y c u l t i v a t o r , h e w o u l d

h a v e r e g u l a r l y a t t e n d e d zazen a n d p e r i o d i c sesshin ( i n t e n s i v e s i t t i n g s ) a n d p a r t i c i p a t e d i n d i a l o g u e s

w i t h t h e m a s t e r . S e v e n t e e n y e a r s l a t e r , h e w a s t o d e d i c a t e h i s f i r s t t r e a t i s e , t h e

Fûshikaden

( B o o k o f

t h e F l o w e r ) , t o b o t h h i s f a t h e r a n d F u g a n j i ' s f i r s t a b b o t . M a s t e r R y ô d ô S h i n g a k u , w h o h a d b e e n h i s

f a t h e r ' s c h i l d h o o d f r i e n d .

2 0 . T a i s h i , Z e a m i a n d Z e n 4 7 .

2 1 . In Fûshikaden ( 4 ) , Ze a m i i n d i c a t es t h a t h e a d h e res to h i s l a t e f a t h er ' s p re cep t s t o a v o i d sen su a l

p l e a s u r e s , g a m b l i n g , h e a v y d r i n k i n g , l a m e n t i n g t h a t t h e c a u s e o f t h e d e c l i n e o f t h e n o i s t h a t m a n y

a c t o r s b e c o m e w h o l l y i n v o l v e d i n w o r l d l y a t t i t u d e s a n d g i v e i n t o v u l g a r d e s i r e s ( 4 2 ) . In t h e

Kakyô

( 8 8 ) , h e c i t e s t h r e e c o n d i t i o n s n e c e s s a r y f o r a n a c t o r t o a c h i e v e t h e h i g h e s t r e a c h e s o f h is ar t. F i r s t h e

m u s t p o s s e s s h i m s e l f t h e r e q u i s i t e t a l e n t . S e c o n d l y , h e m u s t a d o r e h i s a r t a n d s h o w a t o t a l d e d i c a t i o n t o

t h e p a t h o f n o . T h i r d l y , h e m u s t h a v e a t e a c h e r c a p a b l e o f s h o w i n g h i m t h e p r o p e r w a y . L i k e D o g e n ,

h e a d m o n i s h e s t h e a c t o r t o a v o i d t h e t e m p t a t i o n s o f e a s y f a m e o r t h i n k i n g t ha t h e h a s a t ta i n e d m a s t e r y

b e f o r e h i s a b i l i t i e s h a v e r ip en ed . M o r e o v e r , Z e a m i i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e w a y t o m a s t e r y l i e s i n l i f e - l o n g

p h y s i c a l t r a i n i n g i n t h e T w o A r t s . L i k e t h e b o d y d i s c i p l i n e o f zazen, c e a s e l e s s a t t e n t i o n t o a n d d i l i g e n c e

in

no keiko

w i l l l e a d t h e a c t o r t o w a r d e n l i g h t e n e d p e r f o r m a n c e . F i n a l l y , b o t h D o g e n a n d Z e a m i p l a c e a

g r e a t d e a l o f i m p o r t a n c e o n t h e s t u d e n t h a v i n g t h e o p e n , e n t h u s i a s t i c m i n d o f a b e g i n n e r (shoshin).

22 . A n t o n i o D a m a s i o ,

Looking for Spinoza: Joy Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain

( N e w Y o r k :

H a r c o u r t , 2 0 0 3 ) a n d Descartes 'Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain ( N e w Y o r k : G r o s s e t ,

P u t n a m , 1 9 9 4 ) .

2 3 . D o g e n K i g e n ,

Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master

Dogen e d . K a z u a k i T a n a h a s h i

a n d t r a n s . R o b e r t A i k i n , e t a l . ( S a n F r a n c i s c o : N o r t h P o i n t P r e s s , 1 9 8 5 ) 3 2 .

2 4 . S h i g e n o r i N a g a t o m o , Attunement Through the Body ( A l b a n y : S t a t e U o f N e w Y o r k P , 1 9 9 2 )

1 1 3 .

2 5 . D o g e n ,

Moon in a Dewdrop

2 9 - 3 0 . i n Zazen-gi ( R u l e s

for Zazen ),

D o g e n p r o v i d e s d e t a i l e d

i n s t r u c t i o n s f o r s i t t i n g zazen, s p e c i f y i n g t h e c o r r e c t m e n t a l a t t i t u d e a s w e l l a s t h e e x a c t p l a c e m e n t o f

t h e b o d y o n t h e c u s h i o n , a l i g n m e n t o f t h e s p i n e , A N D p r o p e r p o s i t i o n o f t h e l e g s , h a n d s , t o n g u e , a n d

e y e s .

2 6 .

Y u a s a , The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-Body Theory 6 2 . Y u a s a m a k e s a d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n

t h e b r i g h f c o n s c i o u s n e s s o r t h e d i s c r i m i n a t i n g m i n d a n d t h e d a r k c o n s c i o u s n e s s th a t r e s e m b l e s t h e

u n c o n s c i o u s , a u t o n o m i c n e r v o u s s y s t e m . T h e d a rk c o n s c i o u s n e s s i s t h e r e a l m o f t h e b o d y .

2 7 . N a g a t o m o , Z e a m i ' s C o n c e p t i o n o f F r e e d o m 4 0 7 .

2 8 . D o g e n ,

Moon in a Dewdrop

3 0 .

2 9 . F o r e x a m p l e , kinhin ( w a l k i n g m e d i t a t i o n ) b o t h f u n c t i o n s t o a l l e v i a t e p a i n a n d t e n s i o n i n th e

b o d y a f t e r l e n g t h y p e r i o d s o f s i t t i n g a n d t o t r a i n t h e c u l t i v a t o r t o m a i n t a i n h i s c o n c e n t r a t i o n w h i l e


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e n g a g e d i n w a l k i n g . T h e r e i s a s a y i n g , W h e n w a l k i n g j u s t w a l k . I n o t h e r w o r d s , t h e m i n d m u s t b e

s t i l l a n d t h e f o c u s r e s i d e i n t h e s i m p l e a c t i v i t y o f w a l k i n g .

3 0 . Z e a m i , On the Art of the No 9 8 .

3 1 . C o n s t a n t i n S t a n i s l a v s k i , An Actor Prepares, t r a n s . E l i z a b e t h R e y n o l d s H a p g o o d ( N e w Y o r k :

T h e a t r e A r t s B o o k s , 1 9 4 8 ) . O u t s i d e o f t h e w o r k i n t h e t h e a t r e , t h i s t r a i n i n g m u s t b e c a r r ie d o v e r i n t o

y o u r d a i l y l i v e s . . . . W h e n y o u h a v e g o n e t o b e d a t n i g h t , a n d p u t o u t y o u r l i g h t , t r a i n y o u r s e l f t o g o

o v e r t h e w h o l e d a y a n d t ry t o p u t i n e v e r y p o s s i b l e c o n c r e t e d e t a i l . . . . C o n s c i e n t i o u s , d a i l y w o r k m e a n s

t h a t y o u h a v e a s t r o n g w i l l , d e t e r m i n a t i o n a n d e n d u r a n c e ( 8 3 ) .

3 2 . Z e a m i , On the Art of the No 3 0 . •

3 3 .

Y u a s a , The Body, Toward an Eastern Mind-Body Theory 1 0 5 .

3 4 . T h r o u g h o u t h i s t r e a t i s e s , Z e a m i s p e a k s o f t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e a c t o r ' s a r t i s t r y i n t e r m s o f

s t a g e s o f t h e f l o w e r (hana): T h e a c t o r c a n b e s a i d t o h o l d w i t h i n h i m t h e s e e d s o f f l o w e r s th a t b l o o m

i n a l l s e a s o n s . . . A s h e p o s s e s s e s a ll t h e F l o w e r s , h e c a n p e r f o r m i n r e s p o n s e t o a n y e x p e c t a t i o n o n a n y

o c c a s i o n ( F û s h i k a d e n , On the Art of the No 5 3 ) . A r e a l f l o w e r , Z e a m i w r i t e s , i s a l w a y s n o v e l t o t h e

s p e c t a t o r , a s i s e a c h f l o w e r b l o o m i n g a t i t s a l l o t t e d t i m e e a c h S p r i n g . T h e h i g h e s t f l o w e r i n g o f t h e

a c t o r ' s a rt i n T h e a r t o f t h e f l o w e r o f p e e r l e s s chsimC\myôka fu) m a y b e i n t e r p r e te d a s t h e b l o s s o m i n g

o f t he a c t o r ' s s p i r i t ua l he a r t (kokoro) i n p e r f o r m a n c e ( K y û i , On the Art of the No 1 2 0 ) .

3 5 .

N a g a t o m o , Z e a m i ' s C o n c e p t i o n o f F r e e d o m 4 0 4 .

3 6 .

D u r i n g t h e M u r o m a c h i p e r i o d , t h e p r a c t i c e o f m e d i t a t i o n i n m o t i o n e x e r t e d a n i m p o r t a n t

i n f l u e n c e o n t h e J a p a n e s e m a r t i a l a r t s a n d t h e no . I t t o o k s u c h f o r m s a s w a l k i n g m e d i t a t i o n a r o u n d a n

a l t a r a n d d a n c i n g nenbutsu i n v o l v i n g r e c i t a t io n o f A m i t a b h a B u d d h a ' s n a m e w h i l e d a n c i n g ( c o n s i d e r e d

b y s c h o l a r s t o b e a s o u r c e o f t h e p o p u l a r f o l k a r t s o f J a p a n ) . Y u a s a ,

The Body, Self-Cultivation, and Ki

Energy 1 2 - 1 3 .

3 7 .

Y u a s a , The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-Body Theory 1 3 .

3 8 . Y u a s a , The Body Self-Cultivation, and Ki Energy 3 0 .

3 9 . K u n i o K o m p a m , The Noh Theatre: Principles and Perspectives, t r a n s . J a n e C o r d d r y ( N e w

Y o r k : J o h n W e a t h e r h i l l , 1 9 8 3 ) 2 1 6 .

4 0 .

C o n s t a n t i n S t a n i s l a v s k i , An Actor Prepares. F r e q u e n t l y p h y s i c a l i m m o b i l i t y i s t h e d i r e c t

r e s u l t o f i n n e r i n t e n s i t y , a n d i t i s t h e s e i n n e r a c t i v i t i e s t h a t a r e f a r m o r e i m p o r t a n t a r t i s t i c a l l y . T h e

e s s e n c e o f a r t i s n o t i n i t s e x t e m a l f o r m s b u t it s s p i r i t u a l c o n t e n f ( 3 4 - 3 5 ) .

4 1 . S h i g e n o r i N a g a t o m o , A n A n a l y s i s o f D ô g e n ' s ' C a s t i n g O f f B o d y a n d M i n d , ' International

Philosophical Quarterly

2 7 ( S e p t . 1 9 8 7 ) : 2 2 7 .

4 2 .

D o g e n , Moon in a Dewdrop \41.

4 3 .

D o g e n , q t d . i n S h i g e n o r i N a g a t o m o , A n A n a l y s i s o f D ô g e n ' s ' C a s t i n g O f f B o d y a n d M i n d '

2 3 2 .

4 4 .

Z e n c h i k u , q t d . i n T h o m h i l l , Six Circles, One Dewdrop 55.

45 . Z e a m i , ''Kakyô.'' C h ' i is a T a o i s t - d e r i v e d t e r m f o r t h e u n i v e r s a l c r e a t i v e f o r c e r e s p o n s i b l e

f o r t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f a ll p h e n o m e n a . I n t h e a r t s, it r e f e r s t o t h e c r e a t i v e e n e r g y t h a t t h e a r t i st c o n s c i o u s l y

e x p e r i e n c e s w i t h i n h i m s e l f a n d m a n i p u l a t e s i n o rd e r t o ef f e c t a n ar t e x p r e s s i o n ( 3 4 3 n 2 6 ) .

4 6 . M i k e S a y a m a , Samadhi: Self-Development in Zen, Swordmanship, and Psychotherapy ( A l b a n y :

s t a t e U o f N e w Y o r k P , 1 9 8 6 ) 1 3 0 .


27/30

Fall 200 3 157

47. Ztamì, On the Art of the No 77.

4 8 .

7 7 .

4 9 . Z e a m i ,

''Kakyo

3 6 3 . T h i s t e r m , a c c o r d i n g t o M a r k N e a r m a n ( t r an s l at o r ), a p p a r e n t l y d e r i v e s

f r o m e s o t e r i c B u d d h i s m , w h e r e i t r e f e r s t o t h a t a s p e c t o r f u n c t i o n o f m i n d w h i c h i s t h e s o u r c e o f a ll

i d e a s a n d i m p u l s e s t h a t a r i s e i n t o c o n s c i o u s n e s s . I t i s t h e s o u r c e o r ' w o m b ' f o r a l l t h a t i s i m a g i n e d b y

t h e a c t o r , b u t i s n o t t h e i m a g i n a t i o n p e r s e . O n a p s y c h o - p h y s i o l o g i c a l l e v e l , i t i s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e

v i s c e r a a s t h e s o u r c e o f v i t a l o r p a s s i o n n e l [ s i c ] e n e r g y .

5 0 .

Z e a m i , On the Art of the No 1 3 7 .

5 1 . 1 4 0 .

5 2 .

B e r n a r d F a u r e , The Rhetoric of Immediacy: A Cultural Critique of Chan/Zen Buddhism

( P r i n c e t o n : P r i n c e t o n U P , 1 9 9 1 ) 2 9 5 .

5 3 . S h i g e n o r i N a g a t o m o a n d G e r a l d L e i s m a n , A n E a s t A s i a n P e r s p e c t i v e o f M i n d - B o d y , The

Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 2 1 ( 1 9 6 6 ) : 2 2 8 .

5 4 .

S . N a g a t o m o a n d L e i s m a n , A n E a s t A s i a n P e r s p e c t i v e 2 2 7 .

5 5 . J e r z y G r o t o w s k i , F r o m T h e a t r e C o m p a n y t o A r t a s a V e h i c l e ,

At Work with Grotowski on

Physical Actions, b y T h o m a s R i c h a r d s ( L o n d o n : R o u t l e d g e , 1 9 9 5 ) . W h e n w e b e g i n t o c a t c h t h e v i b r a t o r y

q u a l i t i e s ( o f t h e s o n g ) , t h i s f in d s i t s r o o t i n g i n t h e i m p u l s e s a n d t h e a c t i o n s . A n d t h e n , a l l o f a s u d d e n ,

t h a t s o n g b e g i n s t o s i n g u s . T h a t a n c i e n t s o n g s i n g s m e ; I d o n ' t k n o w a n y m o r e i f I a m f in di ng t h a t s o n g

o r i f

zen acting

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