June 28, 2004

To Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo, a flute is not only a musical instrument; it’s a hoe, a sword, or an elder’s walking cane. When Nancy Wang uses her hands to describe long, silky, black hair, we can see the tresses falling to a young girl’s knees.  This is the magic of Eth-Noh-Tec, an Asian-American storytelling duo that combines the wonder and life lessons of folktales with the beauty and focus of movement.

Over 750 school children were treated to storytelling concerts by Eth-Noh-Tec during a three-day series of Museum special events focusing on Asian cultures. For some of the students, the concerts were part of a Museum visit that also included time near the outdoor rock and sand garden playing Japanese games and time in the Asian cultures gallery watching Southeast Asian shadow puppets come to life.  For other students, the concerts were all-school assemblies where Eth-Noh-Tec came to them.

For adults, Robert and Nancy held the workshop "Telling It with Movement and More”. Local educators and storytellers discovered how a subtle (or not-so-subtle) addition of gesture or change of level could add meaning to the stories they tell.  That point came home to a member of our Education staff when she was told that one child’s reaction to Eth-Noh-Tec’s performance was “I loved it when his eyes bugged out!”

The Spurlock Museum thanks the University of Illinois Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies for their support of Eth-Noh-Tec’s visit. The events were also sponsored in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.