(no subject)

[flemmings]

Spent a chunk of yesterday with Youtube and Noh choruses (Noh has to be heard live to sound resonant) and then randomly googled Bugaku and watched another bunch of out-of-focus weird figures dancing to weird music. Random incongruous shot of Tokyo wires and apartments behind the Bugaku dancers reduced me to nostalgic tears.

And I thought, suppose dragons looked like Bugaku dancers, and dressed like them too? No more familiar domesticity. Something quite primeval and strange. (Couldn't find any with the birdy masks, alas, but this is better quality than most.)

And now I shall go view JR commercials...

Comments

[i-am-zan.livejournal.com]

Just jumping in in and feeling nerdy and I did some googling so I share ... some links...

Only the first few seconds are worth a look! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPfg6MxZIzg) The Kecak Dance is usually several hours long, some say even up to half a day. A retelling of the Ramayana. Traditionally done without any musical accompaniment apart from an all male chorus.

of Garudas vs. Nagas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garuda#In_Buddhism) ... I am sometimes quite intrigued by the land of 3/4 of my paternal and maternal ancestors.

And lastly have a birdy mask ... if you have $4000 (http://www.trocadero.com/stores/japaneseartsite/items/934826/item934826.html) spare cash lying around. ^_^ It does say that it's a fine and rare example. HEH!

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

That's a very cool Garuda at the start. But yes, startling.

I am sometimes quite intrigued by the land of 3/4 of my paternal and maternal ancestors.

Uhh, what? Your family's from India originally?

[i-am-zan.livejournal.com]

ahh no I meant the Indonesian ancestry, as my father's parents and grandparents were from Sumatra and Madura, my grandmother's parents (on my mother's side) were from Java. The only 'true' Malay really was my mother's father who was from Malaysia.

Many of our traditions like the celebration of weddings and births culturally have huge similarities to those in Hinduism, and originate (I'm guessing) from India. My father's people were a very dark skinned lot. Whether this has anything to do with having any ancestry further up the tree from the Continent ... I have no idea. Like I said intriguing. For me anyway.

[paleaswater.livejournal.com]

Oh, brilliant idea. I'm really struck by how primeval and strange these Japanese court dances are. And is 雅乐 what they're called? It seems to me 雅 is used in one of its earlier sense.

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Gagaku 雅楽 is the music alone; bugaku-- 舞楽-- is the dance plus music. And both are supposed to come from China originally, IIRC. Hence all the intra-Asian sniping over the youtube excerpts.