Hiraki (first performance for a Noh actor, acting an important role) (披き)
Hiraki is what a Nohgakushi (Noh actor) performs for the first time as a shite (a main actor of a Noh play) or a quasi shite role for a certain music, Kyogen (farce played during a Noh play cycle), or hayashi (musical accompaniment played on traditional Japanese instruments). It is only applied in a certain difficult music piece or grand scale music. It is usually handled as a professional performance to show the result of an actor's training, and to be recognized by those close to him or her, that he or she has achieved a certain level of skill.
In the case of a hiraki, sometimes the word 'hiraki' is added to the right of the name of the music in the program. By doing so, it indicates these meanings, first, the program is a presentation of the training result, and secondly, the actor is still lacking in experience and would like the audience to see the performance with the acknowledgment of that fact.
Music that are used as hiraki
Shite-kata (main roles)
While in training: Okina (Old Man) (Okina, Senzai), Shojo Midare (The Disorderly Tipster Sprite), Dojo-ji Temple, Shakkyo (Stone Bridge) (shite, rear tsure [side actor]), Mochizuki (The Full Moon)
Middle age and higher: Sagi (Hernshaw), Sotoba Komachi (Komachi at the Gravepost), Seki-dera Komachi (Komachi at Seki-dera), Omu Komachi (Komachi's Parrot-Answer Poem), Oba Sute (Abandoning an Old Woman), Higaki (Cypress Fence)
Besides these, the first time performance of a shite-kata (main role of a Noh act) or a masked role is also given much weight, although they are not considered as 'hiraki.'
Waki-kata (supporting actors)
Waki of Choryo
Kyogen-kata (comic actors)
Ai Kyogen (comic interludes): Okina (Chitose, Sanbaso), 'Nasu no Katari' (Narrative in Nasu) in Yashima (Noh).
Hon Kyogen (played independently, this normally is the one generally called Kyogen): Tsuri Kitsune (Fox Trapping), Hanago (Visiting Hanago) (Kyogen), Tanuki no Haratsuzumi (a story of a raccoon and a huntsman), Iori no Ume (Ume at a Nun's Hut), Makuramono Gurui (An Old Man's Love), Bikusada (Bikusada Gets Named)
Hayashi-kata (people who play hayashi, or the musical accompaniment)
Fue (Japanese flute): Kiyotsune's 'Koi no Netori'
Kotsuzumi (shoulder drum): Dojo-ji Temple (Noh) (Ranbyoshi [mad rhythm])
Otsuzumi (hip drum):
Taiko (drum): Tomonaga's 'Senbo' (Penitence)
Since most of the hiraki of hayashi-kata are in common with those of shite-kata, only those that are not common listed here.