@
Ama@ˆΔ–€
KEY WORD :@art history / sculptures
@
A dance piece in *bugaku •‘Šy, as well as the mask *bugakumen •‘Šy–Κ, used in that dance. The Ama mask is made of paper *zoumen ‘ –Κ, and worn for the dance that usually begins a program. Ama probably derives from ancient ground-breaking ceremonies of India. It is a quiet dance hiramai •½•‘, of the Left sa-no-mai Ά•‘, said to have been brought from China tougaku “‚Šy by the monk Buttetsu •§“O in 736 and recomposed during the 9c at the Heian Court. The dance is paired with *Ni-no-mai “ρΙ•‘, a dance of the Left, and together they can be understood to represent the cosmos; "ama" can mean "heaven," while the dark, grotesque Ni-no-mai masks evoke the spirits of the earth. Unlike most wooden bugaku masks, the Ama mask is a rectangular sheet of white paper (or cloth) with triangular holes for eyes and a patternized beard, eyebrows, nose, and cheeks painted in black. The oldest extant Ama masks date from the Edo period, but 8c cloth masks for *gigaku ŠκŠy preserved in the *Shousouin ³‘q‰@ Repository of Toudaiji “Œ‘εŽ› in Nara give a good idea of early tradition.
@
@

@
REFERENCES:
*Soriko ‘h—˜ŒΓ, *Kotokuraku ŒΣ“ΏŠy@
EXTERNAL LINKS: 
@@
NOTES
@

(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.@No reproduction or republication without written permission.
ŒfΪ‚ΜƒeƒLƒXƒgEŽΚ^EƒCƒ‰ƒXƒg‚ȂǁA‘S‚Δ‚ΜƒRƒ“ƒeƒ“ƒc‚Μ–³’f•‘»E“]Ϊ‚π‹Φ‚Ά‚ά‚·B
@