Slowly the season is getting darker. Time for some introspection and digging into the fantastic inner world of Butoh dance. Butoh dance, Japanese avant-garde originated by Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo in 1959, as a protest to the American influence that was changing Japanese culture. Butoh rebelled against the notion of external beauty and delves into the darker shadow sides of the human being.
Butoh uses playful and grotesque imagery, taboo topics, extreme or absurd environments, and it is traditionally performed in white body makeup with slow hyper-controlled motion. However with time various styles have been created and one is often saying that there are as many styles of Butoh as there are Butoh dancers.
Personally I have been influenced a lot by Butoh dance. I have been especially trained in the methods of Tanaka Min. But also got classes from Murobushi Ko and Ohno Joshohito... The meditative slowness, the raging fastness, the higher states of consciousness, the honesty with your own shadow sides, the enormously rich imagination, the strong expressions... That is why I love Butoh dance. Even though I don't call my dance to be Butoh most of the time, under the skin it is pretty similar. And so it is with great pleasure to introduce you to the art of Japanese Butoh dance!
Here are Ohno Kazuo
And if you have time please look at all of this:
