81587 - Theatre in Asia (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

Through this course, the student will: - acquire knowledge about the origins and development of the main Asians theaters; - know how to contextualize Asian theaters within an appropriate historical and anthropological framework; - develop skills in research and interpretation of relevant documentary evidences (oral and written). He or she will also: - be able to recognize and interpret the aesthetic and theatrical principles underlying the different languages of the Asian theater; - know how to decode, on a cultural and theatrical plan, the main Asian models of theater; - be able to interpret the intercultural dynamics between Eastern and Western theatrical traditions.

Course contents

First module:
The codification of theatrical knowledge is a structural element common to several Asian scenes. The course will investigate, by means of a preliminary anthropological contextualization, the codification of theatrical knowledge in Asia. In particular – taking Japan and India as example – the mechanisms of knowledge transmission from master to pupil over the centuries will be examined, and the consequent relationship between tradition and modernity.

Second module:
The second module will focus on the 20th century Japanese scene with the aim of observing the relationship between the great traditional theatrical genres (nō, kyōgen, kabuki, bunraku) and 20th century experimentation. The module will examine in depth the birth of butō and the life and theatrical work of Mishima Yukio.

Optional seminars
All the students are encouraged to attend the seminar:

L’attore tradizionale cinese e il romanzo Honglou Meng [The traditional Chinese actor and the novel Honglou Meng].

Dott.ssa Beatrice Borelli
March 13th, 14th, 15th – 1pm-3 pm
Aula Ferrero

Starting from the narrative masterpiece of the eighteenth century, with a preliminary anthropological, historical and literary contextualization, the lessons will put students in contact with the Chinese theatrical art − developed over the centuries of the empire − which includes acting, singing, dance, pantomime and acrobatics.
Through videos, famous scenes from six operas cited by the novel and still constantly in the repertoire will be presented. The main examples of dramas taken from episodes of Honglou Meng will also be shown.
A reflection on the social status of the actors will be central along the entire seminar, an issue that will be explored by presenting their peculiar subordination in the court, highlighted by the novel and supported by historical sources.

Readings/Bibliography

Program Examination: 6 CFU for attending students

-Giovanni Azzaroni e Matteo Casari, Asia il teatro che danza, Le Lettere, Firenze, 2011.

-Casari Matteo, Teatro nō. La via dei maestri e la trasmissione dei saperi, CLUEB, Bologna, 2008.*

-Matteo Casari e Giuditta de Concini, a cura di, Danzare il Nāṭya. Permanenze e trasformazioni del teatro-danza indiano, in Arti della Performance: orizzonti e culture, n. 5, 2015, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti e ALMADL, Bologna (free download)*


Program examination: 6 CFU for working groups during lessons
Attending students may choose to participate in working groups carrying out activities in-depth on some topics of the course. For these students the program examination is:

-3 chapters of your choice of: Giovanni Azzaroni e Matteo Casari, Asia il teatro che danza, Le Lettere, Firenze.

-Casari Matteo, Teatro nō. La via dei maestri e la trasmissione dei saperi, CLUEB, Bologna, 2008.*

-Matteo Casari e Giuditta de Concini, a cura di, Danzare il Nāṭya. Permanenze e trasformazioni del teatro-danza indiano, in Arti della Performance: orizzonti e culture, n. 5, 2015, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti e ALMADL, Bologna (free download)*


Program Examination: 12 cfu for attending students

-Giovanni Azzaroni e Matteo Casari, Asia il teatro che danza, Le Lettere, Firenze, 2011.

-Matteo Casari, Teatro nō. La via dei maestri e la trasmissione dei saperi, CLUEB, Bologna, 2008.*

-Matteo Casari e Giuditta de Concini, a cura di, Danzare il Nāṭya. Permanenze e trasformazioni del teatro-danza indiano, in Arti della Performance: orizzonti e culture, n. 5, 2015, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti e ALMADL, Bologna (free download)*

-Mishima Yukio, Medioevo & Il Palazzo del bramito dei cervi: Mishima, la Storia e vicende segrete, Virginia Sica, a cura di, Atmospherelibri, Roma, 2019.

- Ruperti Bonaventura, a cura di, Mutamenti dei linguaggi nella scena contemporanea in Giappone, Cafoscarina, Venezia, 2014 [only pages: 1-100; 133-146; 263-348].**

- Matteo Casari, a cura di, Teatro nō, orizzonti possibili, numero monografico di “Prove di drammaturgia”, n. 1, febbraio 2012 pp. 3-39.

Program examination: 12 CFU for working groups during lessons
Attending students may choose to participate in working groups carrying out activities in-depth on some topics of the course. For these students the program examination is:

-3 chapters of your choice of Giovanni Azzaroni e Matteo Casari, Asia il teatro che danza, Le Lettere, Firenze.

-Casari Matteo, Teatro nō. La via dei maestri e la trasmissione dei saperi, CLUEB, Bologna, 2008.

-Matteo Casari e Giuditta de Concini, a cura di, Danzare il Nāṭya. Permanenze e trasformazioni del teatro-danza indiano, in Arti della Performance: orizzonti e culture, n. 5, 2015, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti e ALMADL, Bologna (free download)*

-Mishima Yukio, Medioevo & Il Palazzo del bramito dei cervi: Mishima, la Storia e vicende segrete, Virginia Sica, a cura di, Atmospherelibri, Roma, 2019.

- Ruperti Bonaventura, a cura di, Mutamenti dei linguaggi nella scena contemporanea in Giappone, Cafoscarina, Venezia, 2014 [only pages: 1-100; 133-146; 263-348].**

- Matteo Casari, a cura di, Teatro nō, orizzonti possibili, numero monografico di “Prove di drammaturgia”, n. 1, febbraio 2012 pp. 3-39.


*The students of the music curriculum can substitute Danzare il Nāṭya with Daniele Sestili, Musica e tradizione in Asia orientale, Squi[libri], Roma, 2010.
**The students of the music curriculum can substitute Mutamenti dei linguaggi nella scena contemporanea in Giappone with Alessandro Guidi, Lo Yueji. Il pensiero musicale nelle Cina antica, CLUEB, Bologna, 2005.

Not attending students will also have to prepare on a text chosen from:

-Azzaroni Giovanni, Sguardi sul corpo tra Oriente e Occidente. Studi di antropologia filosofica, Bologna, CLUEB, 2019.

-Azzaroni Giovanni, Teatro in Asia. Malaysia – Indonesia – Filippine – Giappone, vol. I, CLUEB, Bologna, 1998, solo pp. 273-388.

-Azzaroni Giovanni, Teatro in Asia. Myanmar – Thailandia – Laos – Kampuchea – Viêt Nam, vol. II, CLUEB, Bologna, 2000, solo pp. 273-388.

-Azzaroni Giovanni, Teatro in Asia. Tibet – Cina – Mongolia – Corea, vol. III, CLUEB, Bologna, 2003, solo pp. 101-256.

-Azzaroni Giovanni, Teatro in Asia. Nepal, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, vol. IV, CLUEB, Bologna, 2006, solo pp. 149-338.

-Casari Matteo, Teatro, vita di Mei Lanfang. Con la traduzione integrale di Addio mia concubina, CLUEB, Bologna, 2003.

-Casari Matteo e Elena Cervellati, a cura di, Butō. Prospettive europee e sguardi dal Giappone. Omaggio o Ōno Kazuo, in Arti della Performance: orizzonti e culture, n. 6, 2015, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti e ALMADL, Bologna (free download)

-Centonze Katja, ed., Avant-gardes in Japan. Anniversary of Futurism and Butō: Performing Arts and Cultural Practices between Contemporariness and Tradition, Cafoscarina, Venezia, 2010, solo pp. 27-171.

-Consonni Alessandra, a cura di, ‘Cham yig, CLUEB, Bologna, 2008.

-De Giorgi Margherita, "To be renewed again". Esperienze di butō in Europa: Yvonne pouget, Imre Thormann e Xavier Le Roy, in Arti della Performance: orizonti e culture, n. 2, 2012, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti e ALMADL, Bologna, solo pp.1-183 (free download).

-Guidi Alessandro, Lo Yueji. Il pensiero musicale nelle Cina antica, CLUEB, Bologna, 2005.

-Marazzi Antonio, Uomini, cyborg e robot umanoidi. Antropologia dell’uomo artificiale, Carocci, Roma, 2012.

-Morotti Fabio, Teatro e danza in Cambogia, Editoria&Spettacolo, Riano, 2010.

-Nandikeshvara, Abhinayadarpaṇa, trad. it. di Pietro Chierichetti, Alfredo Ferrero Editore, Torino, 2010.

-Ottaviani Gioia, I fondamenti del teatro in Asia, Aracne, Roma, 2004.

-Ruperti Bonaventura, a cura di, Mutamenti dei linguaggi nella scena contemporanea in Giappone, Cafoscarina, Venezia, 2014.

-Ruperti Bonaventura, Storia del teatro giapponese. Dalle origini all’Ottocento, Marsilio, Venezia, 2015.

-Ruperti Bonaventura, Storia del teatro giapponese. Dall’Ottocento al Duemila, Marsilio, Venezia, 2016.

-Scholz-Cionca Stanca e Balme Christofer, Nō Theatre Transversal, iudicium, München, 2008.

- Umali A., Umewaka N.; Casari M, eds, Nō Theater and Cultural Diplomacy. With a Glimpse into Philippine Practices, in Arti della Performance: orizzonti e culture, n. 11, 2018, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti e ALMADL, Bologna (free download)

-Zeami Motokiyo, Il segreto del teatro nō, Adelphi, Milano, 1987 (o successive edizioni).

Teaching methods

The teaching will be a balanced mix of theoretical and practical examples, in anthropological context, in order to allow all students to be able to reach the final target.

Assessment methods

During the lessons the lecturer will involve the students in an active discussion of the lesson topics. The exchanges will be addressed to bringing out any difficulties concerning the subject matter, but not to actually forming part of the final mark.
The final exam will consist of an oral test. The exam will be the chance for the student to prove his/her knowledge of the course books. Students attending the class may refer their answers back to the topics actually analyzed in class.
Students studying the course set books, especially the core text, should pay attention to the fundamental aspects of the topics and, of course, to the ways in which they are connected to one another rather than to learn by rote.

The exame will take account of the propriety and the adequacy of oral linguistic expression:

30 cum laude: excellent performance showing soundness of knowledge, rich discursive articulation, appropriate expression, interest of critical contribution;
30: Excellent performance, complete, and appropriate knowledge, well-articulated and appropriately expressed, with interesting critical contributions;
29-27: Good performance, more than satisfactory knowledge, correct expression.
26-24: Standard performance, essential knowledge, but not comprehensive and / or not always correctly expressed;
23-21: Sufficient performance, general but superficial knowledge; often inappropriate expression and/or confused articulation of speech;
20-18: Poor performance, sufficient expression and articulation of speech with significant gaps;
<18: Insufficient performance, knowledge absent or very incomplete, lack of orientation in the discipline, poor and seriously flawed expression.

Teaching tools

Dance performances videos relating to the topics presented during the course.

Office hours

See the website of Matteo Casari