The last class

I wish I could put the pictures at the end of this post. You have already seen the incredible gift our sensei gave us tonight. Humor me, though by letting me do the big build up. It started with our sensei realizing that we still hadn't practiced in hakama, and that it would be very difficult for the Kagetsu actors to stamp in only their yukata. So they promptly took off their own hakama and dressed Meyu and Num. Love hath no greater sensei than he who will drop trou for a student's costume! Now properly dressed, we ran through everything in order. We bowed to our singers "backstage". We entered through the little door. We did our shimai and received notes. Finally, we sang the chant for Katayama-sensei as he danced. (He had to retrieve his hakama for that.) So we then met in the "backstage area", and Katayama-san told us that we had performed and that we had learned a great deal and done very well. So we were going to end the class now. My heart fell. It had hardly begun! Then Katayama-sensei said that Tamoi-sensei had something else he wanted us to do. 'Okay,' I thought, 'Maybe we're going to spend some time talking about the performance of Dojo-ji. I can be happy with that.' Tamoi said that we had worked very hard and that we had achieved more than they expected. That, as we knew, shimai are not a full Noh play, and therefore, we would not be wearing a Noh mask. However, they wished us to have the experience of how it would feel to move onstage in a mask. So they had brought a Kagetsu mask and a Hagaromo mask for us to put on - as well as a very special Noh fan that would be appropriate to use. I gasped and started to cry. Katayama-san laughed. We were all so grateful - I think they knew that we knew what a big deal this is. Amateurs don't get to act in the masks or touch the fans. We weren't even allowed to photograph the mask exhibitions. It was a tremendous gift. I took the Hagaromo mask by the string holes, raised her above my head and bowed to her, then turned her around and held her to my face. Tamoi-sensei tied the strings tightly and guided me to the dai sho, the starting position. They told me not to kneel because this was no longer a shimai but part of a Noh play. I began my dance. It is very hard to see through the mask holes, and we didn't have real pillars - just stools at the corners; so I flubbed a couple times, but as I got toward the end of the piece, I relaxed and let the mask take over. I realized that my face had fallen into her expression, and I felt like I was flying. Katayama-sensei was singing, and Tamoi-sensei made the sounds of the drummer and drum. I felt their support and that of my classmates. Each of us, in turn, had our moment to glimpse what a Noh actor experiences. What magic. What communion. What a gift.