I have received a email notice from JFKL about a dance in KLPAC at Sentul West.
I thought it would be a nice dance, as it is a joint production with Japanese renown dance performer, Ko Murobushi and our local talent, Lee Swee Keong. It's part of the Japan-Malaysia Technical Design Workshop organised by the Malaysian Alliance of Technical Theatre and The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur, with support from MyDance Alliance and Studio Chombrang.
When I called up to inquire about the dance, I accidentally mentioned about "Nyonya" dance. A mistake until now I still remembered. I have misinterpreted that message, and it is supposedly to be "Nyoba Dance group". How silly I was. No wonder the person on the other line sounded surprised!
Frankly, I have limited understanding of the dance. Furthermore, it's my first dance appreciation. I only attended this with recommendation from JFKL, plus, I have come across Lee Swee Keong's production in our of the theatre I have gone to.
Both of us found the dance was amusing, well, bizaar. That's why he went on to search info relating to Butoh and shared it with me. Here are the details:
What is Butoh?
Basically, Butoh (sometimes written buto), is a contemporary Japanese dance movement, initially called Ankoku Butoh or Dance of Utter Darkness, by its originators, Tatsumi Hijikata and Ohno Kazuo.
It is generally agreed that the first butoh piece was the 1959 performance of Hijikata's, Kinjiki, (Forbidden Colours), based on the novel of the same name by Yukio Mishima. The piece explored the taboo of homosexuality and ended with the smothering of a live chicken between the legs of Yoshito Ohno (Ohno Kazuo's son) and Hijikata chasing Yoshito off the stage in darkness. This piece caused its outraged audience to ban Hijikata and his colloborators from the festival where Kinjiki premiered, and established Hijikata as an iconoclast.
In the post-war political climate artists such as Hijikata were concerned with the growing influx of American culture in Japan. The 1959 Japan Mutual Defense Treaty, a document that allowed the continuance of American military presence in Japan, caused a swell of protest through university, café, street life and artwork. Butoh was conceived on this tide of protest.
Inspired by the works of writers such as Yukio Mishima, Lautrémont, Artaud, Genet and de Sade, Hijikata delved into worlds of the grotesque, darkness, decay and the transformation of the body into other materials such as spirits and animals in a process called "becoming". He was a wild man with language, creating butoh-fu (fu means "word" in Japanese), poetic and surreal scores to help the dancer transform into other materials.
Who is Ko Murobushi 室伏鴻?
Ko Murobushi is one of the best known Butoh-dancers of our time. Born in Tokyo, he was a little boy when Butoh was born in 1959 by Tatsumi Hijikata. By 1968 he had already studied and performed with Hijikata in Japan.
After this first contact with Butoh, Ko retired from the stage in 1970 and practised for two years ascetic life and shamanism as so-called Yamabushi in the Japanese mountains.
Back into society he founded the Butoh group DAIRAKUDAN together with Ushio Ama-gatsu, Akaji Maro and others, doing several performances in Tokyo and Kyoto.
In 1974 he created the Butoh-magazine "Hageshii Kisetsu (Violent Season)" and founded a female Butoh-Compagnie ARIADONE for which he did many choreographies. Two years later he founded a similar only-male Butoh-group: SEBI.
With a co production of these two groups he brought Butoh to Europe. De Dernier Eden - Porte De L'au - De La?succeeded in Paris in 1978 and was followed by a big tour through the whole Europe with ARIADONE in 1981/82.
From this time, on Ko Murobushi settled down in Paris and made Paris the European capital of Butoh. Lots of choreographies followed for ARIADONE as well as for Carlotta Ikeda, Urara Kusanagi, Tadashi Endo and others.
Beneath the work as a choreographer for himself and others, Ko keeps a strong tradition of improvisational performances that culminated in 1986 in a cooperation with the Glenn Branca Orchestra in Tokyo.
To list some titles of works of that period: "En", "Zarathoustra", "Unemumie", "Neon Or Neant", "Utt", "Lotus Cabaret", "Hinagata 8", "Iki", "Waterworks", "La Nuit", "Dehors", "Monsieur Kafka", "Pantha Rhei".
From 1988 onwards, Ko concentrated on duo productions with Urara Kusanagi - "Ephemere" and "Oni One" were created and toured in the following years in Europe and South America; his very successful solo production "En" brought him to Mexico.
Choreographies from the last few years include: "Mamuish", "Nomadic Blue", "Pie" and "Ai-Amour" (duo with Carlotta Ikeda), "Working Process", "Sebi" (Duos with Urara Kusanagi). In January 1996 he created a new solo for the MAMU-Festival in Geingen/Germany: "In Chance", in May 1997 there followed another solo "In Silence", co produced by Le Quartz/Brest & La Fonderie. In 1998 "Working Process" toured successfully through Venezuela and Eastern Europe.
In 1999 and 2000 Ko concentrated his work to Mexico with teaching and creating choreography for Urara Kusanagi in a Mexican film, entitled "Vera", directed by Francisco Athie. In that time he also re-concentrated his work to Japan, doing several performances there.
Ko Murobushi on the one hand continues to open his dance and the Butoh to worldwide influence. On the other hand he tries to research his work deeper into its Japanese roots. His last performace, edge? in Japan in 2000 shocked the Japanese public but has also been highly appreciated.
Also his recent perfomance & teaching in Vienna "ImPuls Tanz 2001" has been recognized as the most valuable event of the festival.
東京生れ。
1969年土方巽に師事。
70年出羽三山にて修験道を研究。 72年「大駱駝艦」の旗揚げに参加。
76年舞踏派「背火」を主宰、福井県五太子町「北龍峡」で『虚無僧』を上演した。
舞踏新聞「激しい季節」を編集・刊行、「アリアドーネの会」をプロデュース。
78年パリで『最期の楽園－彼方の門－』を公演、
一ヶ月のロングランとなり舞踏が世界のＢＵＴＯＨとして認知されるきっかけとなる。
86年パリ・ユネスコ本部で土方巽を追悼して『PANTHA RHEI』を上演、
以後ヨーロッパ・中南米を中心に意欲的活動を続ける。
近年では、 ImPulsTanz（ウィーン）、Montpellier Danse（モンペリエ）、
National Gallery of Modern Art (ローマ)、The Place theater（ロンドン）、
Hivernales d’Avignon(アヴィニョン)等でソロ公演。
またBernardo Montet 振付『Dissection d'un homme arme』にゲスト出演。
Company ARIADONEのために『春の祭典』（パリ, バスティユ劇場初演）、
メキシコ映画『VERA』（F・アティエ 監督／草薙うらら主演）のダンス・シーンを振付。
2000年『外の人、他のもの』（大阪トリイホール）、『Edge』（神楽坂die pratze）
01年 世田谷シアター・トラムにてメキシコ国立芸術院 INBA との共同制作『Edge 01』。
以後『Edge』シリーズでワールド・ツアー。
03年3月 『即興三夜』。
「JADE2003 土方メモリアル」に招かれ Ko&Edge Co.で『美貌の青空』を発表。
04年 Ko&Edge co.『Experimental Body』シリーズを開始、vol.1『Ｈｅｅｌｓ』、vol.2『始原児』。
『ジゼル（s）』演出・振付。ソロ『すべてはユーレイ』。
05年 Cie.Ariadoneによる『ツァラトゥストラ』再演・振付。
Ko&Edge coによる『Experimental Body vol.3』を準備中。
舞踏における身体のエッジを模索し続けるとともに、後進の指導も積極的に行っている。
What he thinks of Butoh?
■舞という字は美しい。歩いていると看板に「舞」と書かれていたりして振り向けば バーのネオンだったり、扉を開ければ舞なんて彼・彼女がいたりしたが・・・舞さん と舞い上がれば必ず墜落や転落があるからカラダにいくつ裏表があっても不足、で、 出口と入口のあたりで踏み迷って舞－踏になった・・・踏み外してダンスだ。 間のハイフンにはなにかあるのか？な－んにもない。ただハイフン、舞い上がらずと も宙吊りのカラダの孤独に見舞われる＜間＞があるというわけだ。暁には墜落があ り、着水がある。
■・・・神話的なイメージを反復したいわけではない。昨日置き忘れた記憶をいくら探 ぐってもモノは出てこない。思い出そうとして悪戦する現在があるだけだ。わたした ちの、種族の根源のようなところにまでバンジー・ジャンプできたら、できるかもし れない、踊りでそれが出来るかもしれない、って言ってるひとがいたけど、無－起源 の無限の飛翔、場所なき場所の孤独の反復があるだけだ
■忘れた乙女の歩行を憶い出す、童貞の歩行が炸裂する。忘却が捩れ、喉も砕けて声が 出ない。「出来あがらない」ための、これからがステージ。函とロープを用意した。 そしてジョン・レノンも。
Here are some of the site with regards to Butoh:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butoh
Ko Muroboshi's official website
http://www.murobushi.com/
http://www.t3.rim.or.jp/~sakurah/ko.html
http://mydancealliance.org/news.php?nid=216
http://www.butoh.net/