The "method"
of Butoh (more accurately written in latin characters as
Butô) can be described as a contemporary avante-garde
dance form that originated in Japan. Borrowing from traditional traditional
japanese theatre and dance, with the influences of Neue Tanz and mime,
and a desire to reconnect with the earth-based cultures of early Japan.
The Butô
movement was born out of postwar Japan with Tatsumi Hijikata's
1959 Ankoku Butô (Dance of Darkness) performance "Kinjiki"
loosely based on the book by the same title (Also, Forbidden Colors)
written by Yukio Mishima. Two other names are critical when looking
at the movements origin, Kazuo Ohno (who performed as the boy in Kinjiki
and continued the practice beyond Hijikata's death) and Akira Kasai
(a contemporary of Hijikata and Ohno, who helped give Butô name).
Butô was created in part as a reaction to the westernization
of Japan, and a desire by HIjikata to return to the roots of Japanese
culture, to restore the Japanese body and sensibility. Ankoku Butô's
raw, taboo raising, dark, erotic style and influence soon spread throughout
the world, creating the international movement we have come to know
simply as Butô/Butoh.
The way
of Butô can be described as the Butô body and
Butô-tai. "The Butô body is a literal translation
of Butô-tai, 'tai' meaning an attitude, a mental-physical state,
a state wherein opposites are held in equatorial tension; that which
the Butô dancer Stuart Lynch referred to as: "zero point"...."
-Lesley Eleanora Boyce-Wilkinson
Butô searches for the "body that has not been robbed"
(Hijikata) a state connected to the multiverse, raw feral, angelic,
childlike, sexual, grotesque, sublime... a dance of the primordial
paradox.
Some links to get
you started (not preferentially ordered):
Butoh
on Wikipedia Butoh (sometimes written butô) is the collective
name for a diverse range of techniques
and motivations for dance inspired by the Ankoku-Butoh movement...
A
Historical Highlight on Butoh AsiaWeek story August 2000
About
Butoh - Flesh & Blood Mystery Theater
Butoh
- Dance of Darkness by Harmen Sikkenga of Kobo Butoh
Butoh
- Revolt of the Flesh in Japan and a Surrealist Way to Move ©
Copyright by surrealist Johannes Bergmark.
First published in and written for Mannen på gatan, Stockholm
1991
Butoh
in the Late 1980's by Kazuko Kuniyoshi a critical article on Butoh
in the 80s (.PDF)
Butoh:The
Darkness Amongst the Joy by Emily Burke an exploration of Butoh
by a student of dance
written as a paper for a dance course at Oregon State College in 2002
History
of Butoh: An Art Form In Transition article by Don McLeod
(originally appeared in Melt Magazine in a slightly different format)
Towards
the Bowels of the Earth: Butoh Writhing in Perspective by Paul
Roquet. Published in May 2003,
this short book (~80 pages) on Butoh was adapted from the author's
thesis last year at Pomona College in California, USA
What
is Butoh Dance? by Dan Hermon of Butoh Net and Tangentz Performance
Group
What
Is Butoh? A handful of Bay Area artists speak their mind several
quotes printed in AsiaWeek August 2000
Visit
our RESOURCES page for more links
to articles, artists and other electronic Butô crossroads..
