Mask Makers Web

...In the dreamy streets, a handful of demons dancers and haggarders seek to wake up the town with their whispers of drunkenness, wrapped in their serpentine scarfs and hidden behind their frightful colored masks....

Added on: Sep 15, 2002 | Hits: 1963

Seeing the way the mask takes on a life of its own teaches something fundamental about acting: there is a presence you're trying to get out of the way of. You're not trying to 'Get out there and entertain!' but to make a space so that these wonderful, playful presences can enter the room. We're working on the edge, pushing ourselves to go places you don't ordinarily go. We're not aiming for perfection; that's not what theater's about. It's about being able to risk within a structure."

Added on: Mar 30, 2001 | Hits: 1782

Thanks to the efforts in academe and of artisans and live performers, there has been a revival of interest in folklore in different parts of India over the last two decades. What has kept this revival from evolving into a movement was perhaps the absence of a coordinating factor to integrate these efforts

Added on: Dec 28, 2000 | Hits: 3152

In Thailand the traditional theatre is characterised by highly colourful story telling.( + photos)

Added on: Jan 17, 2001 | Hits: 2878

The idea of the masquerade is often associated with a formal type of party scene with people in costumes carrying on sophisticated conversation, but in fact, in most instances, this was not the case. The masquerade was a release from public stigmas and mentalities. Attendees held an overall attitude of rebellion. The masquerade provided an escape from stereotypes and societal functions, and a way to experience life in a completely new reality......

Added on: Sep 14, 2002 | Hits: 2020

By Dr Gautam Chatterjee

Added on: May 12, 2002 | Hits: 2222

Topeng and Wayang Kulit

Added on: Jun 01, 2002 | Hits: 1762

Masking refers to a broad spectrum of ceremonies and beliefs that have traditionally been practiced in Africa and other parts of the world. To wear a mask and its associated vestment was to conceal one's own identity in the guise of another

Added on: Jan 28, 2001 | Hits: 1791

..."There are many theories as to the origins of Commedia dell'Arte.Unfortunately, these hypotheses are poorly documented and yet, ironically, there seems to be a similar thread which runs through each of them. The truth regarding Commedia's genesis probably encompasses all of these theories combined."

Added on: Mar 30, 2001 | Hits: 2267

Christine Herold, Prof. of Literature. An article on "The English Mummers as Manifestation of the Social Self":

Added on: Jul 21, 2002 | Hits: 1804

by Sheri Anne Masuda The Hawaiian gourd mask has very distinct features that are consistent with other headdresses worn by the chief or ali?i of old Hawaii. A hollow gourd is the main piece of the mask. The brown gourd covers a person?s entire head similar to a protective helmet. The front of the mask has an opening, allowing the person to see and breathe. The opening is similar to the shape of a short dumbbell or a figure eight. It consists of two symmetrical circles connected with a wide but short horizontal cut out. This horizontal section is centered between the two circles. It is wide and just long enough to expose the person?s nose. A circle is formed beginning from each end of the nose cut out. The circle traces around the person?s eyebrow, then circling around the cheek bone, then finally connecting at the bottom of the horizontal nose section without exposing the person?s mouth.

Added on: May 19, 2002 | Hits: 2212

In 1620 it is recorded that a carpenter, Joan de Torrobas, was paid 88 "reales" to mend four Giants. It was the custom around that time to parade Giants in the evenings, after the bullfights, which were adorned with crackers and fireworks,(not unlike the present-day mechanical contrivance of the "Torch Bull" borne by a human) and which were frolicked around the square, before eventually ending up on the bonfire. This practice of having Giants in the celebrations continued through the greater part of the XVIII century, until in 1780, The King, Carlos III, banned " the use of dancing Giants for leading any religious processions inside or outside all churches within this Kingdom" (by Royal Decree of tenth of July, 1780) which put a stop to the use of any Giants during the San Fermin celebrations.

Added on: Nov 08, 2002 | Hits: 2125

Article by Marilyn Davis, ed, published fall 2003 in the research magazine - PERSPECTIVES - at Southern Illinois University. Article portraying associate professor of theater at SIUC Ron Naversen`s passion for masks.Especially the mask carving tradition of Bali.

Added on: Oct 31, 2003 | Hits: 2990

Ah, Halloween is soon upon us! For many of us, the coming holiday invokes images of witches and cats, haystacks and pumpkins carved into scowling jack-o'-lanterns. Every year, the street in the old neighborhood that I used to live on in Franklin, Indiana was closed off so that hordes of children could swarm us come sundown on All Hallow's Eve. Most of the old Victorian mansions were converted into haunted houses, where our neighbors would jump out from behind cobwebby corners and try to scare us.

Added on: Jan 25, 2001 | Hits: 2300

Those Eyes! If you're on the prowl in Venice, the city's maskmakers have you covered. By James T. Yenckel The Washington Post Sunday, January 18, 1998; Page E01

Added on: Jan 27, 2001 | Hits: 1872

The Return of the Goddess through Ritual and the Art of the Mask by Lauren Raine

Added on: Feb 11, 2003 | Hits: 4000

T he diverse arts and culture of Thailand have a fascination of their very own, and one of the most fascinating is Thai classical dance and its rituals and traditions.

Added on: Dec 29, 2000 | Hits: 3700

By Evan Aleister Rainer "It is a basic requirement in your early Shamanic training that you understand and get practical experience with the use of masks as soon as possible. At least before your first serious shock in training. The subject of masks has been for so long shrouded in mysterious tribal references and subsequently forgotten about. It is essential recover this knowledge to be able to master the practice of assuming and discarding masks at Will. "

Added on: May 21, 2002 | Hits: 2849

A University paper: Masquerade played an integral role in English social life in the eighteenth century. Often referred to as "The World Upside-Down," masquerades provided participants with a forum for reestablishing and transcending their identities. This site attempts to provide relevant background information and analysis of the various components and functions of the English masquerade.

Added on: Sep 14, 2002 | Hits: 2329

n Melanesia theatre is being used as a political tool, a tool to inform the community about the development issues that face them, a tool that will arm them to make more informed decisions about the choices they are confronted with

Added on: Feb 03, 2001 | Hits: 3518

A CASE STUDY OF THE MASK DANCE AT LAMASERY OF BSAM YAS BY Guo Jing (Professor of Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, Kunming, PRC)

Added on: Dec 28, 2000 | Hits: 2345

Text of Anne-Marie Bouttiaux

Added on: Jun 22, 2002 | Hits: 1869

A transformation mask is a large mask with movable parts that can be opened and closed. These complex masks are worn by Kwakiutl dancers in special ceremonies.

Added on: Jan 16, 2001 | Hits: 4434

From masks.org website. Bali masks

Added on: Jun 01, 2002 | Hits: 1975

By katie Pela Unfortunately, no masks survive from the times of ancient Greece. Masks were made of materials that could not survive the elapse of time. However, scholars decipher much from paintings of scenes from plays found on artifacts. In addition, ancient playwrights provided clues in their works. Different playwrights used masks to emphasize different elements of a play. Aristophanes, for example, used masks to exaggerate his feelings about a certain character. Therefore, the construction of masks in a practical way remained similar among the various playwrights, but their use differed greatly.

Added on: May 30, 2002 | Hits: 4140