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*''Japanese'': 翁 ''(okina)''
*''Japanese'': 翁 ''(okina)''
''Okina'' is a ritual dance performed prior to a program of [[Noh]] plays as an auspicious ritual of purification. The dance features a single performer in a distinctive "old man" (''okina'') mask.
''Okina'' is a ritual dance performed prior to a program of [[Noh]] plays as an auspicious ritual of purification. The dance features a single performer in a distinctive "old man" (''okina'') mask.
The ritual, coming directly from ''[[sarugaku]]'', contains significant influences from ''[[kagura]]'' and the Chinese [[Nuo]] (J: ''tsuina'') rite, among others. Traditionally, prior to performing ''Okina'', a performer would live away from his wife and family for a period, in order to purify himself in preparation for the ritual. In the actors' dressing room attached to the Noh stage, a small altar would be set up, where offerings of rice and ''saké'' were set up, and a box containing the mask and fan to be used in the dance would be arranged there as well. Just prior to the performance, the ''Okina'' actor and the rest of the troupe would then drink ''saké'' together and perform a purification ritual for the success of the performance.
The ritual, coming directly from ''[[sarugaku]]'', contains significant influences from ''[[kagura]]'' and the Chinese [[Nuo]] (J: ''tsuina'') rite, among others. Traditionally, prior to performing ''Okina'', a performer would live away from his wife and family for a period, in order to purify himself in preparation for the ritual. In the actors' dressing room attached to the Noh stage, a small altar would be set up, where offerings of rice and ''saké'' were set up, and a box containing the mask and fan to be used in the dance would be arranged there as well. Just prior to the performance, the ''Okina'' actor and the rest of the troupe would then drink ''saké'' together and perform a purification ritual for the success of the performance.
The ''Okina'' dance itself shares some features with "god plays" (''kami nô''), aka category one Noh plays, but is typically considered separately, as a special case unto itself.
The ''Okina'' dance itself shares some features with "god plays" (''kami nô''), aka category one Noh plays, but is typically considered separately, as a special case unto itself.
A version of the dance is performed in similar contexts in the [[Kabuki]] theatre, such as at the beginning of a new theatrical season, as an auspicious ritual dance calling for peace for the realm and prosperity for the theatre.<ref>Timothy Clark, "Edo Kabuki in the 1780s," ''The Actor's Image'', Art Institute of Chicago (1994), 36.</ref>
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==References==
==References==
*Min Tian, "Chinese Nuo and Japanese Noh – Nuo’s Role in the Origination and Formation of Noh," ''Comparative Drama'' 37:3/4 (2003-04), 353.
*Min Tian, "Chinese Nuo and Japanese Noh – Nuo’s Role in the Origination and Formation of Noh," ''Comparative Drama'' 37:3/4 (2003-04), 353.
<references/>
[[Category:Muromachi Period]]
[[Category:Muromachi Period]]
[[Category:Poetry and Theater]]
[[Category:Poetry and Theater]]
