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PhillyTea.org is maintained by a group of Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu) teachers and students in the Philadelphia area. We offer lessons and demonstrations through Shofuso, the Japanese House and Garden in Fairmount Park. Click here for details.
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Brother Keenan first became interested in chanoyu while
attending a series of lectures and demonstrations at the
Philadelphia Museum of Art. With his background in liturgy, he
immediately saw parallels between chanoyu and the Eucharist of
the Catholic mass. He began to research the connections between
the two rituals, which led him to starting taking lessons in chanoyu.
Brother Keenan’s passion led him to
propose offering classes in chanoyu at La Salle. With the support of the Grand
Master (O-Iemoto) of the Urasenke school of tea ceremony, he
oversaw the renovation of one of the campus’ outbuildings
into a tea ceremony house. The three-year project was completed
in 1987.
Brother Keenan taught chanoyu-related courses,
allowing La Salle students to take lessons in tea. For members
of the public, he and teachers Taeko Shervin and Mariko La
Fleur offered weekend and evening classes.
When Brother Keenan died in 1999, the two
remaining teachers kept the tea house open with the help of the
students and the support of the faculty at La Salle University.
In 2007, however, the university ended the tea program, and so
the chanoyu group went in search of a new home.
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The Japanese House, as it is known locally,
is a recreation of a shoin-zukuri (desk-centered) house, complete with
kitchen, bathroom, living areas, and a traditional tearoom.
Shofuso has been home to a wide variety of Japanese cultural
activities throughout the years, including tea ceremony
demonstrations, and we were pleased to be invited to offer
lessons there as well.
Urasenke is one
of about 10 different tea schools active in Japan today. The
school traces its lineage back to Sen Rikyu, a merchant,
Zen layman, and later advisor to the ruler of Japan who lived
in the 16th century. Rikyu was at the forefront of a new
movement in chanoyu, one that emphasized simplicity and
de-emphasized the rigid class structure of the time.
Most of the other active tea schools in
Japan trace their lineage back to Rikyu as well. Through the
generations, however, each school has developed a different way
of doing chanoyu and a different emphasis — one school
might focus on aesthetics, for example, while another might
stress the spiritual aspect.
No one school is better than any other, but
Urasenke is the most accessible for non-Japanese. Since World
War II, Urasenke has made a particular effort to reach out to
foreigners, and in addition to actively spreading the word
about chanoyu, Urasenke has published the bulk of the books and
articles in English on the subject.
Mariko Nishi La Fleur began her study of chanoyu at Urasenke's
Kyoto headquarters, receiving her chamei (tea name) in 1977. She spent the next five
years teaching chanoyu in Midorikai, the foreign student division of
Urasenke. She then moved to Los Angeles, where she taught chanoyu at UCLA,
and then on to the Philadelphia area in 1990.
Shortly after her arrival, Mariko began
teaching at Urasenke La Salle. In addition, she has taught
classes in Japanese and in chanoyu at the University of Pennsylvania, and
Japanese at Villanova University. She currently teaches
Japanese at Lower Merion High School.
Morgan Beard has been studying chanoyu since
1994. Her introduction to tea was an undergraduate course with
Brother Keenan at La Salle University. She enjoyed doing tea so
much that she continued to study under teachers Mariko La Fleur
and Taeko Shervin, expanding her knowledge of tea and
eventually becoming a licensed teacher. She continues to teach
and study while working full-time as an editor.
Drew Hanson has been studying chanoyu since
1995 when he began practice with Brother Joseph Keenan at La
Salle University's teahouse. Subsequently, he trained under
teachers Mariko La Fleur and Taeko Shervin and is a licensed
teacher. Now retired, Drew continues to study, teach, and
demonstrate The Japanese Way of Tea. He's an avid gardener and
ceramist and operates Boukakuan, Japanese Tea House and Garden
at his home in New Jersey. Drew holds a Ph.D. in American
Literature from The Pennsylvania State University.
All three teachers, as well as their
students, are active in giving lectures and demonstrations all
around the greater Philadelphia area. If you'd like to take
lessons at Shofuso, or are interested in attending/arranging
for a demonstration, please contact us at info@phillytea.org or sign up for our monthly
newsletter.
