Butoh research

Butoh

Research

For our next topic and performance, we’re doing physical theatre-or more specifically, Butoh. I’ve therefore conducted research in order to understand this type of theatre. So far, this is one of the most interesting types of theaters I’ve ever seen. And I’m excited to learn more about it. 

Butoh -The dance of darkness 

“Taking the body to pieces and putting it together again.”

 Butoh is a type of physical theatre that originated in Japan after the second World War. It was in many ways a form for the victims of the bombings in Hiroshima to express the undiscussed and horrific feelings they had, which explains the grotesque side of Butoh. However, this grotesque and realistic/naturalistic side of Butoh is what I believe makes it so fascinating and exciting to watch. It’s nothing like Greek theatre or anything I’ve studied before, but that does not make it less worthy to put on stage. It has been described as “the dance of darkness” which I believe describes it well. It is a way to express the undiscussed, the forbidden and accepted such as homosexuality, murder, sins etc. Butoh is supposed to make the audience feel uncomfortable. 

It’s physical theatre so it’s therefore based on body movements and strongly relates to modern dance. The movements are extremely slow and distorted. “When you’re body wants to go forward, go the opposite way and you have Butoh.” Many movements are centered around the idea of tension (tensing a small muscles, and then releasing it again and so on). However, it’s not a strict style so it may be purely conceptual with no movements at all. The picture above shows a butoh ensemble. I find their facial expressions especially interesting (masks) as well as the use of hands. The hands are distorted and along with the white body paint they look almost supernatural. I believe this picture clearly shows how powerful a Butoh ensemble can be, and this effect is something I wish to achieve in my scene.

The first butoh piece named Kinjiki (forbidden colours) by Tatsumi Hijikata was performed at a dance festival in 1959. Based on a novel, it explored the taboo of homosexuality and paeodophilia, it ended with “a live chicken being held between the legs of Yoshito Ohno”. This shocking act caused Hijikata to be banned from the festival. 

Botuh artists traditionally perform covered in white make up with very limited clothes and no hair. I believe this is to simplify the body so that unaccepted concepts can be explored without judgements. 

The word Butoh is made up of two japanese words. Bu and Tuh. Bu means dance and Tuh means stamping on the ground.