Dance with instrumental accompaniment
Bugaku-zu, left panel
Tawaraya Sōtatsu (late 16th to early 17th century)
Hassen
Bugaku is a repertoire of accompanied dance, based on music and dance imported from the Korean peninsula and the Chinese mainland, and brought to full form during the Japanese Heian period (9th to 12th centuries). It is divided into two categories, Left and Right, according to origin, and these categories differ not only in terms of music and instrumentation of the accompanying ensemble, but also in terms of costumes and basic dance forms.
The category of Dances of the Left (samai) centers on dances with origins in China, central and southern Asia. These dances are accompanied by tōgaku (‘Tang music’), with a basic instrumentation of three types of wind instrument and three percussion instruments. The costumes of the dancers are generally red. The dancers enter the stage from the left (as viewed from the audience), and fit their dance movements to the accompaniment’s melody.
The category of Dances of the Right (umai) centers on dances with origins in Korea and northeast China. These dances are accompanied by komagaku (‘Korean music’), again with wind and percussion instruments, but with some differences from the instrumentation for tōgaku. The costumes of the dancers are often green or blue, and sometimes yellow, and the dancers enter the stage from the right (as viewed from the audience). They match their dance movements to the accompaniment’s rhythm.
Division of the imported music and dance into two categories, Left and Right
Until the Nara period (8th century), the music and dance that had found its way to Japan was largely performed as it stood. At the court of the Heian period (9th to 12th centuries), however, this music and dance was reorganized in a distinctive Japanese way, as a deeper understanding grew of its theory and practice. This reorganization brought to bugaku the forms that we know today.
The division into Left and Right reflects the fact that members of the Left and Right Konoefu, or Inner Palace Guards, became involved in the performance of music and dance, with Left dance performed to tōgaku by guards of the Left, and Right dance performed to komagaku by guards of the Right. It became customary for dances to be performed alternately, with a Left dance followed by similar one from the Right repertoire, in a system known as tsugaimai (‘pair dances’). Various competitions, often militaristic in nature, were fought by two teams, Left and Right, and music and dance were performed as entertainment, so that music and dance became integral parts of court ceremony.
The two-part division also became associated with the yin-yang theory popular at the time, with the Left identified with yang and the Right identified with yin.
