A Day of Rare Buddhist Dances

Friday 1 May 2009

With support and in association with The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Part of The Many Faces of Buddhism - Visual Arts, Artist Talks, Dance, Film and more

Introduction

Opposite: Shizuka Mikata in Kayoi Komachi, Kanze Kaikan, Kyoto 2007 Photo by Shinya Watanabe

Performing dances is a poetic act, a pathway to a cultures meanings, a devotional art. As a universal human activity, dancing offers a construction of a reality, an indication of sacred connections between the divine and the mundane. For many peoples dance is an art which represents the same aesthetics and values as their painting, their sculpture, their architecture, their music, their poetry and their sacred writings. That is, dances are living engagements with their values and beliefs. For Buddhists dance is an integral part of both worship and celebration, bringing the divine into play, and representing the presence of what is wonderful and frightening in our world. Presenting dance as an integral part of the fine arts completes the divine combination of movement and nonmovement, which are in harmony for practitioners of Buddhas ancient faith. Without movement, the world ends, or never begins, and without stillness, everything is nowhere and everywhere. What is truly special and unusual about this day of Buddhist dance is the extraordinary combination of arts, from far reaches of the Buddhist realm. Rarely seen, even if one travels to their homelands, these living arts are cultural treasures. The artists have come from faraway places, not only in space, but also in time. Their traditions are deeply embedded in the practices and socio-religious networks of their homelands which have endured through calm and difficult times. Their arts have the sanctity of longestablished beliefs and a multitude of witnesses through the ages. For us to be able to join that audience, even for a single day of rare dances, is a powerful reminder of our common humanity and humility. Joan L. Erdman Columbia College Chicago, and The University of Chicago

A Day of Rare Buddhist Dances

Programme 11.0011.30 Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya Charya Nritya Vajrayogini Mayanjala Theatre Noh Kayoi Komachi Drikung Kagyu Nuns of Samtenling Monastery Meditation Visualisations / Mudra of Vajra Vairocana Chod Dehimaduwa Bandara Clan of Kandy Suvisi Vivaranaya Ritual of the 24 Previous Buddhas Part One Visitors places offerings before the 24 Buddhas Dehimaduwa Bandara Clan of Kandy Suvisi Vivaranaya Ritual of the 24 Previous Buddhas Part Two Drikung Kagyu Nuns of Samtenling Monastery Shawa Cham (Stag Dance) Mahai Cham (Buffalo Dance) Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya Charya Nritya Vajrapani Rik Masterson, singer Theatre Noh Atsumori Drummers Performers Charya Nritya Theatre Noh Main Actors/Chorus Shizuka Mikata Madoka Mikata Hiromichi Tamoi Yoshihiro Umeda Kazuaki Kawamura Hiroshi Murayama Kaoru Matsumoto Manabu Takeichi Ichiro Kichizaka Masaru Kawamura Yasuchika Urata Yukihiro Urabe Nobuyuki Oe Shigeki Miyamoto Kousuke Oe Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya Rik Masterson, singer

11.4513.45 14.0014.30

15.0016.00

Secondary actor Kyogen Comic Flute Kotsuzumi (small drum) O-tsuzumi (large drum)

Drikung Kagyu Nuns of Samtenling Monastery Teacher Assistant Coordinator Nuns Venerable Drupon Rinpoche Sonam Kunga His Eminence Rigyal Rinpoche Namgyal Taklha Lhamo Namgyal Chonzom Konchok Lhamo Konchok Gamtsho Konchok Tsechik Rinchen Tsomo Ngawang Dolma Tsering Angmo Tsewang Dolma Sherpa Dechen Lhamo

16.0016.30 16.3017.30

18.0018.30

Dehimaduwa Bandara Clan of Kandy, Sri Lanka Dancers Sunil Bandara Ranasinghe Nilantha Kumara Jayalath Ajantha Rajapaksa Tharuka Bandara Aththanagoda Sarath Samaranayake Chaminda Jayalath Lak Acihra Bandara Tennakoon Shantha Tennekoon Thusitha Kumara Jayasundara Jawaran Rupasinghe Talahitaya Wickramasinghe Sarath Sisira Kumara Mohan Daniel

18.4519.15

19.3021.00

Coordinator

Dances and Performers

Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya

Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya from Katmandu, Nepal is a priest of the Vajracharya caste of Newar Buddhists. He is the 35th generation of his lineage and a ritual master of both the Charya Nritya dance tradition and other ritual forms. Vajrayogini Vajrayogini is the main meditation deity used in many meditation techniques. Vajrayogini is the female deity who severs all ties to the ego and the senses. She dances freely in the sky of emptiness, in spontaneous bliss, beyond the security of worldly views and ideas. Red in colour, semiwrathful and enlightened, she aids us on our path in often dramatic and unconventional ways. Mayanjala Mayanjala means net of illusion. A bodhisattva in the form of a wandering holy man laments the suffering of this world. A bodhisattva is an enlightened one who chooses to remain in the world for the benefit of others. This dance is a compassionate response to Samsara and expresses the first Buddhist truth, that life is suffering. Vajrapani Vajrapani is a bodhisattva in the form of a protective or wrathful deity. Wrath here means fearlessness, power and fierce duty to protect the Buddhist. Tips for Watching Charya Nritya is ritual embodiment of a deity and the deitys spiritual qualities. One can watch Charya Nritya as if watching a visual prayer. By focusing on the dancer one can experience the various spiritual qualities being generated by the dancer in the form of various deities. Using the dancer as a way to sustain concentration, one can actively meditate upon the living virtues of the deity.

Theatre Noh

Theatre Noh is an ensemble of Noh performers from Kyoto, Japan. Kayoi Komachi Kayoi Komachi is a play about a wandering priest who encounters the ghost of legendary ninth century poetess Ono no Komachi. She was a cruel lover and for this her soul has been unable to escape the wheel of life and death. After the priest to offers prayers for her liberation, Komachis lover appears from the depths of hell forbidding her to be allowed enlightenment unless he too, finds justice. After their painful romance is re-lived by their ghosts, both find release in enlightenment attained by the prayers of the priest and their own new understanding of the impermanence of all things and the importance of detachment even from the objects of ones deepest desires. Kayoi Komachi has never been performed in the West. Atsumori Atsumori tells the tale of the refined and beautiful young Taira Clan warrior Atsumori who becomes engaged in battle with the mightiest Samurai of the Heike clan, Kumagae, who honours the virtue of the teen and kills him only reluctantly, after promising Atsumori to become a monk and dedicate his life to praying for the boys soul. In this play, Kumagae, now a monk, encounters the ghost of Atsumori. They re-live the fateful battle, finally recognising the essential transience of life. The ghost of Atsumori throws his sword on the ground and vanishes from sight. Tips for Watching Noh uses the pace and rhythm of a different level of reality. One should abandon habitual looking and change ones perspective when watching Noh. The place of the plays is always the spiritual world. Notions of space and time are shattered. When the performances are over, the quality of silence is something to savour.

Vajrapani, Dancer: Prajwal Vajracharya, Photographer: Andre Elbing

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Dances and Performers

Drikung Kagyu Nuns of Samtenling Monastery

Samtenling Monastery sits in the Himalayan foothills of Dehra Dun, India, part of the sprawling exiled headquarters of the Drikung Kagyu lineage of monks and nuns. These nuns, coming from Ladakh, Nepal and Tibet are taught by Sonam Kunga Rinpoche, 78, one of the three main oral transmission masters of the Drikung Kagyu Order of Vajrayana Buddhism. Mudra of Vajra Vaironcana Mudra of Vajra Vairocana is a meditation visualisation of the esoteric form of Buddha known as the Cosmic Buddha of Great Illumination. The visualisation is performed while seated in lotus position. Chod Chod is a meditation visualisation that takes many forms and is widely practiced by meditators, contemplatives and yogis. It was Machik Labdron (1031-1129) who introduced and popularised Chod. The visualisation is performed while seated in lotus position. Shawa Cham, Stag Dance Mahai Cham, Buffalo Dance These two dances are among the oldest in Cham, dating to the eighth century, and are included in written histories from the 13th century. Both the stag and the buffalo symbolise pre-Buddhist deities now sworn to protect Buddhism Tips for Watching The meditation visualisations performed by the nuns are genuinely that. This is a rare opportunity to witness actual Himalayan mystical practices. Cham is colourful, masked and somewhat spectacular. An observer can consider what elements of the human psyche are expressed in the characters of the stag and buffalo, and how controlling them in a greater act of mental discipline and spiritual intent can result in increased mental clarity.
Photo by Gerard Houghton

Dehimaduwa Bandara Clan Family of Kandy, Sri Lanka

Sri Lankas pre-eminent Buddhist site is the Temple of the Tooth built in 1701 in Kandy, containing a relic of the Buddhas tooth. The Bandara Clan family has been associated with the Tooth Relic since 1627, in the reign of King Raja Singha 11th. In the early 18th century, the Bandara Clan was appointed to ritually attend the Tooth Relic with the chanting of descriptive verses honouring the 24 previous Buddhas. Suvisi Vivaranaya The Suvisi Vivaranaya Ritual of the 24 Previous Buddhas dates from the 18th century, when the Bandara Clan was entrusted with the recitation of poetic verses describing the previous Buddhas and their instructions to the Buddha Shakyamuni. At the request of the Ho Foundation, Core of Culture sought out the last practitioners of this ritual. Mohan Daniel of Serendib Gallery in Colombo succeeded in identifying and arranging an historic revival of the Suvisi Vivaranaya, literally on the brink of being lost to an otherwise unbroken lineage of performance. Every performer is a member of the Clan, and they range in age from early 20s to late 70s. Tips for Watching When watching one cannot help but be moved by the ebullient drumming and athletic dancing that includes full aerial back flips. Neither symbolic nor dramatic, the Suvisi Vivaranaya is about the timelessness of the purity of devotion and the offering of oneself with no strings attached.

Photo by Tundup Namgyal

Producers Note

The Extant Ancient Dances of Buddhism

There are more dances associated with Buddhism than any other major religion. They store pre-Buddhist rites, symbols, sounds, concepts, characters and protocols in unmatched authenticity, and within a cultural context that elsewhere left them to extinction. What Buddhism provided archaic ritual movement was not only a higher balance and formal order, but a consciousness-transforming mechanism; a dynamic of metaphysical method resulting in enlightenment and liberation. By embracing, not annihilating ritual practices, some of which extend back to the sacred expressions of pre-history, Buddhism revealed its compassion even toward the primal need for man to relate to the cosmos by means of his own body. The extant ancient dances of Buddhism open up for contemporary awareness a kind of dance archeology. In the dances, the pragmatic application of early Buddhism, and of various evolutions of Buddhism, can be seen and explored. Complementarily, the more primitive sacred forms within the Buddhist dances remain alive, energetically extending forward, backward and beyond time. Buddhist artistic structure is our gateway to the pre-Buddhist deities. The dances of Buddhism are connected with great and creative saints, and where chronicled, customarily boast of yet more murky origins from the shamanic and sacrificial rites of the dawn of civilisation. More apropos to the transcendental powers of Buddhism, sources also trace the genealogy of the dances to lucid mystical origins beyond common notions of space and time. Meditation is a sustaining feature of practical Buddhism found in the extant ancient Buddhist dances. Participation itself is a requirement for meditation, for ritual and for otherworldly theatrical arts such as Noh. Meditation, such as practiced by Vajrayana monks and nuns, is an invisible act induced by physical positions controlled by mental discipline. Ritual, as exemplified by Theravadin Kandyan dances and Newar Charya Nritya, is a step further into the re-creation of order of the physical world to approach the divine and partake of its powers. Rituals use altars, constructed according to proscription, expanding the arena

of control beyond individual physical posture, inviting more people toward the threshold of new awareness, and providing for sanctifying notions of the self beyond that which is grossly defined. Art proper, such as Noh, can also be imbued with Buddhist transformative mechanisms, and rely on these as a means for an audience to participate in the depicted drama of a soul, even while prioritising the artistic technique and aesthetic appreciation. Meditation is a transcendental process, intentionally embracing beyond the world as defined by the senses and intellect. It is a spiritual act conducive to the implementation of artistic dynamics. Buddhism implies meditation and enlightenment as liberation from the bounds of the physical world. Its effects on animistic ritual transform an act of appeasement into an act of transcendence. Its effects on artistic devices directs them to a result with no physical description. In the performances by the Vajrayana nuns, the Tantric Priest, the Royally-appointed clan, and the refined Noh actors, it is clear to see that space and time are radically treated; so deliberately ignored. The dances are not exotic to witness; they are literally, out of this world. But it is in this world where these rare dances negotiate continuity and extinction. The realisation that dances, too, become endangered just as animal species or pristine environments, is dawning. Fundamentally it is a question of ecology whether in the biosphere, or the ethnosphere. As languages die out, dances appear to have more holding power, perhaps for being forms that transcend and in some cases, precede language. As work undertaken in Bhutan and Cambodia during the last decade amply demonstrates, dances can be revived from the brink of extinction and their values and virtues appreciated by a critical mass of people with the vision and means to co-design interventions, and re-vitalise pride and knowledge of dances within the groups whose very lives are the medium by which the dances succeed, generation by generation. Our generation is surely a global generation however new and stumbling the advances of the world population and those who exert power among it. A Day of Rare Buddhist Dances is an investment in elevating the importance of ancient dance traditions. It shares embodied enduring values with a West that is grappling with a stern review of its own failed values, what is at stake is the emerging nature and balance of world culture. This is not a clich sentiment mourning the prospect of a life without dance, but rather a statement that the world needs sources

Producers Note

of enduring virtues and values that live and find a place in global society. Just as orientalist Ernest Fenollosa befriended the last surviving Noh actor in the late 19th century to encourage its continuity, and as American dancer Ted Shawn courageously undertook in the early 20th century, expeditions throughout Asia to make a first serious encounter with the virtues and values of ancient dance, so in this twentyfirst century, we together make this encounter of ancient dance and modernity a next act of solidifying a growing interest in the basic spiritual capacities of our species. It means we can do more than marvel at an exotic treat; do more than keep a calculated distance through culturally moribund scholarship. It means we can participate. We can understand. We can not only make a place for ancient dance in the world, we can be the place. Joseph Houseal Winter 2009 Chicago

Curators Note

The Language of Buddhist Sculpture and Dance

This unique day of ritual dance, juxtaposes two of the most important artistic expressions of the Buddhist faith. It is possible to show that the connections between these forms, seemingly at first so tenuous, are indeed in some case quite profound and far reaching. Two of the dance forms being performed that probably have the closest relationship to Buddhist sculpture are the Nepalese Charya Nritya and the Tibetan Cham. Both are rooted in esoteric tantric practices and share a comparable view of reality. Though not using masks as in the Cham of Ladakh and Tibet, the Nepalese dancer utilises the same spiritual models. The visualisation and realisation of oneself as a deity is a central practice for dance but is also essential for the creation of painting or sculpture. Both the artist and the dancer need to know the scriptural descriptions of the deities they are embodying or representing in wood, metal or stone. The form of a deity is closely based on descriptions laid down in scriptural sources which were originally created by meditators and monk scholars. Both dance and sculpture use the coded language of hand gestures and of postures, each with their own meaning, which, together with distinct facial expression all embody the inner spiritual qualities of the deity. Meditation, dance and artistic production in both traditions have as their central practice the visualisation of a chosen deity or Buddha. The figure of the divine being is intensely imagined in all its emotional and physical details. The actual process of visualisation is an inner dance in itself, a dynamic and creative process. The dancer, or meditator, through long meditation prepares themself to take on the being of, and to fully become the deity being represented. In Tibetan masked monastic dancing or Cham the masks themselves become powerful tools for creating the strong impression of a divine presence. In order to understand why so much effort is made it is essential to realise that the deities of this form of Buddhism are fundamentally each seen as a personification of one aspect of the Buddha nature, much as colours in a rainbow make up a unified white light. A devotee may approach the one

Tourdag (Keepers of the Charnal Ground) Yungdrung Choleing Dzong, Trongsa, Bhutan December, 2006 Photograph by Gerard Houghton

Curators Note

light through any of its colours. The energy of the deity, essentially the Buddha nature, is believed to be beyond form, time and space. A number of beautiful stone and metal sculptures in Room 19 of the new Ho Foundation gallery and others in Room 47a portray the grace and compassion of the bodhisattva, the being who according to Mahayana Buddhism vows to continue being reborn to help others until all beings in creation have been saved. In Room 19 the gilded copper figure of Padmapani, a form of Avalokitesvara, portrayed in the Nepalese dance, is displayed. Dressed as a prince the youthful figure is gently bent in the tribhanga or triple bent posture. The gentle sway imparts the impression of ease and grace and also of incipient movement. In essence each of the sculptures just described is a shorthand form, a signifier of the transcendent enlightened energy it embodies, just as the dancer embodies for a time the same energy.

The Buddhist beliefs of Japan find reflection in both the Noh theatre and in specific Buddhist ceremonies where masks are used. A wooden lacquered mask on view in the Toshiba gallery, A 9-1967, depicting a bodhisattva attendant to Amida Buddha is of the type used in new year ceremonies in Japanese temples. Masks are integral to Raigo ceremonies, performed then, where monks enact the part of Amida Buddha and his attendants who welcome the soul of a dying believer into paradise. The masks worn by the male performers help to create a special otherworldly poetic atmosphere called yugen expressing mystery, darkness and grace. Though Noh is not exclusively Buddhist it does include Buddhist themes such as the journey towards enlightenment and the possibility of salvation through devotion to the Buddha Amida. A robe worn by a Noh actor is displayed in Room 45. Made from stiff heavy silk its emphatic designs of dragons and scrolling clouds suit the slow deliberate movements of the Noh performance.
Head of The Buddha, Bodhisattva, Afghanistan, 4th5th century

Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara sculpture, Nepalese, 14th Century

Although we are used to studying these works from an aesthetic stance compatible with the approach of a museum of art and design, their core meaning lies beyond aesthetics. After consecration ceremonies, involving a final painting in or opening of the eyes the image is regarded not just a lump of metal, or stone, but as a living divine presence. Consecrated images are offered water, flowers, incense and food on a daily basis as an act of worship This leads us on to consider a very different type of dancing, that of the Dehimaduwa Bandara Clan of Sri Lanka. With this we enter a very different Buddhist world directly linked to early Buddhist worship and beliefs. Joyous dance and drumming is seen here as an offering to the Buddha. Traditionally in the Theravada world of Sri Lanka and other south East Asian countries flowers, music, incense and food are offered to a Buddha image, as they once were in India. We may imagine such offerings made before the early Buddha images in Rooms 20 and 19. The vigorous rhythmic dance steps of the Kandyan dancers are accurately portrayed on two 18th century ivory objects, a comb and a plaque on display in the Sri Lankan case in Room 47a. The larger rectangular plaque shows a dancing girl with knees bent and legs apart one hand raised and the other at her side. In early India it is known that girls sang before Buddha images as an offering, though by the 12th century this had been extended to both singing and dancing before them while making offerings.

Core of Culture The V&A is grateful to Core of Culture Dance Preservation for producing this event. This Chicago-based arts organisation has taken as its vocation the preservation of dances threatened by failing patronage, changing media preferences, or dying memories. Preservation means reviving dances no longer practiced, encouraging those who know their dances to find means and places to perform them, documenting the dances of changing societies and cultures, using modern technology to make preservation and education about the dances possible, and helping those who want to preserve their own dances to do so. Joseph Houseal is the Executive Director of Core of Culture Dance.
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The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation was founded in 2005 with twin missions: the first to promote Chinese arts and culture; the second to foster a deeper understanding of Buddhist philosophy and apply its insights to the practice of creativity. From their Hong Kong base, the Foundation provides sponsorships, creates strategic partnerships and supports and develops programmes throughout the world. The Foundation has provided support for the development of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Gallery of Buddhist Sculpture in Asia at the V&A and a programme of events to celebrate the opening of the Gallery.
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Victoria and Albert Museum Cromwell Road London SW7 2RL 020 7942 2211 www.vam.ac.uk
Cover image: Vajrapani, Dancer: Prajwal Vajracharya, Photographer: Andre Elbing