Victoria and Albert Museum contains various items and collections including those related to fashion. Some of these fashion items include the Bugaku, which was created by George Balanchine after being inspired by the Gakaku (a group of dancers and musicians maintained by the Japanese Imperial Household), who visited the United States (Victoria and Albert Museum, n.d.). George did not attempt reproducing the authentic movements of Gagaku, but he rather freely translated the idiom of Japanese into the Western academic ballet terms. Therefore, based on Bugaku as an object of fashion, this paper contextualizes the bugaku art in regards to its history, design, and geography through integrating both the primary and secondary research. Besides, it as well analyzes how the aforementioned aspect/s of status is represented by the object.
Bugaku Description
Fig.1. Bugaku theatre costume (Victoria and Albert Museum, n.d.)
Historically, the Bugaku represents the 12th-century Heian period (794-1185) warrior dances, civil dances, dances for children, and running dances. Besides, the bugaku music and court dance is a long-standing Japanese traditional dance that was often performed for selecting the elites, especially in the imperial court of Japan for about the past 1,200 years ago (Gabrovska 2015, 388). Because of this, only the nobility had known the Bugaku, even though it was opened to the public after the Second World War. The Bugaku object from the Museum shows that these dancers mostly wore the traditional Buddhist costumes that often included the equally beautiful marks.
The Bugaku costume design is of four genres consisting of highly conventionalized cued movements by a drum beat. It has highly stylized the positions of hands, feet, and arms, as well as the overall choreography that comprises of simple geometric patterns. The most significant element is the extending freedom to the tutu of a ballerina, a traditional “plate” variation with the top-skirt that is highlighted with diamante besides being formed of two long petals’ layers (Quinn 2015, 131). The most commonly visible Japanese touch is the lacquered horsehair woven cloth and the deep ‘kimono’, which are trimmed with both Japanese ornaments and flowers en tremblant.
Geographically, Bugaku was a type of dance mainly set up as well as performed in the Japanese Imperial Palace, in which amateur courtiers more often performed it at several pleasurable pastimes including the Moon Gazing and Cherry Viewing parties (French 2016, 121). Besides, Bugaku was performed in areas that hosted various activities including archery contests, football games, as well as horse racing, which often ended in a Bugaku performance. Most importantly, Bugaku dances were mainly divided into two distinct groups in accordance with their respective country of origin. There are those imported from China and are known as “tougaku” and are today known as “sa-no-mai”, as well those imported from “monogolia” and are today known as “u-no-mai”.
How Bugaku Represents the Aforementioned Aspect/s of Status
There are various ways in which Bugaku item represent the Japanese cultural aspect and practices. It is considered by Gabrovska to represent a repertoire of different dances that were mostly performed at Japan’s Imperial Court (Victoria and Albert Museum, n.d.). It portrays how the Bugaku dancers, accompanied by both the Korean and Chinese music was considered special and therefore, could wear the brightly colored garments.
The Bugaku dances that were performed using the above bugaku fashion item also represents the legendary Japanese battles, such as the battle encounters with the mythical beasts or divine personages such as the Phoenix; a brilliant set-piece showing two frolicking dragons (Quinn 2015, 133). Besides, it also represents the manual of ancient instruction that is precisely describing the refined postures as well as movements that must be attained by the Bugaku performers.
Additionally, Bugaku artwork represents the ancient theater (after the initial Japanese style refinement that) performed in both Shinto and Buddhist festivals. As represented by the bugaku fashion item, it shows that the bugaku dancers used the traditional costumes, which were modified according to the changes of the beautiful textile and sense of the subsequent periods. Moreover, the bugaku object also represents a specific group of people, who mainly used the bugaku costumes (French 2016, 122). For example, these dancing costumes were commonly utilized by the Nanto Gakubu, the official bugaku at temples or in Nara. These group of people particularly were the Nikkosan Rinnoji in Tochigi as well as the Shintennoji in Osaka, from the period of mid Edo (1604-1868) towards the Meiji periods (1867-1911).
The bugaku fashion object also represents the bugaku tradition establishment during both the Nara (710-794) and Heian (794-1185) periods. As a result, it reflects the ancient Japanese growing interest in religious and cultural practices including the Chinese culture (Taylor 2002, p. 87). It as well depicts how bugaku evolved to the extent of becoming part of the Japanese broadening Imperial Court in the sense of political prominence as well as the intercultural exchange (Gabrovska 2015, 389). Besides, it represents the refinement and cosmopolitanism demonstrated by the Japanese Imperial Court.
In addition, the bugaku fashion artwork represents the Japanese cultural practices, mainly dancing. It depicts that the bugaku dances were classified into two distinct types, the dances of the right (uhō samai no mai or umai) and the left dances (sahō no mai or samai). Therefore, it tries to make readers in understanding that the left dances including the “taiheiraku” were majorly Indian or Chinese in origin. Such dances were only performed to the “tōgaku”, which was the adaptation of the Chinese musical styles by the Japanese that were common during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) (French 2016, 124). On the other hand, the bugaku fashion object’s red color depicts that the dances of the right were often accompanied by “komagaku”, which was a derived music from the Korean culture.
Conclusion
As discussed in this paper, bugaku fashion object primarily tries to represent a dance that was particularly performed to the Japanese Imperial Court. Moreover, since this practice was mostly during the 12th century, it represents the Heian period (794-1185) civil dances, warrior dances, running dances, and the dances for children. Finally, the bugaku artwork object uses a number of ways in representing the aforementioned Japanese cultural myths and practices, such as the collection of various dances performed at the Imperial Court of Japan.
References
French, G. 2016. Mayuzumi: "Bugaku," "Symphonic Mood," "Rumba Rhapsody," "Mandala Symphony". American Record Guide, 69(4), pp. 120-121.
Gabrovska, G.T., 2015. Onna Mono: The "Female presence" on the stage of the all-male traditional Japanese theatre. Asian Theatre Journal, 32(2), pp. 387-415.
Quinn, I., 2015. Guide to records: Matsudaira – bugaku dance suite; Theme & variations. American Record Guide, 68(5), pp. 130-131.
Taylor, L., 2002. The study of dress history.
Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Victoria and Albert Museum, n.d. Dance costume design. [Online] Available at: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/d/dance-costume-design [Accessed 14/03/2018].
