bugaku; court dance and music
Refers to a traditional Japanese performing art combining dance and music, historically performed at the imperial court and Shinto shrines. The term is often used in historical and cultural contexts.
Bugaku has been performed at the imperial court as part of gagaku.
Bugaku was dedicated at the shrine festival.
Bugaku was performed as an offering at the shrine festival.
Musicians from the Imperial Household Agency performed bugaku.
神楽 is Shinto ritual dance performed to entertain or please the gods at shrine festivals, whereas 舞楽 is the more formal court-derived dance tradition, historically tied to the imperial court as much as to shrines.
bugaku mask
Composed of 舞 (dance) and 楽 (music). The term originated in the Nara period (710–794) when dance and music traditions were imported from China and Korea and later developed into a distinct Japanese court art.