Japan: Scene from a Bugaku dance performance, screen painting, Zentokuji Temple, Nanto, Toyama Prefecture. Kano Eitakeshi (1790-1867), 1849

Bugaku, a court dance accompanied by Gagaku music, is a Japanese traditional dance blending Buddhist and Shinto elements that has been performed to select elites mostly in Japanese imperial courts for over twelve hundred years.

In this way it has been an upper class secret, although after World War II the dance was opened to the public and has even toured around the world in 1959. The dance is marked by its slow, precise and regal movements.

The dancers wear intricate traditional Buddhist costumes, which usually include equally beautiful masks. The music and dance pattern is often repeated several times. It is performed on a square platform, usually 6m by 6m.

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