Butoh Lecture & Screening

Natsu Nakajima, one of the founding members of Butoh movement in 1960’s in Japan, invites to a lecture about the origins of Butoh

Ankoku Butoh

So what has brought me here? To talk about this is to talk about the important ideological background to Ankoku Butoh … As one of the founding members of Ankoku Butoh, I am obliged to use the ideas of Hijikata as the foundation. He was a genius artist and a strong character, like an ancient shaman.
Be it in Europe, Amerika, or Japan, »Ankoku Butoh« has somehow developed on its own with the title »Butoh«. Losing »ankoku« has resulted in losing sight of the original ideology from when Ankoku Butoh was created and has given rise to many misunderstandings and misinterpretations …It was an interesting time in the 1960’s both in the West and in Japan. Waves of revolution were rising. Ankoku Butoh was a movement in the performing arts that was born riding on the wave of counter-culture. When I look back and ask myself what does this past 40 years mean, the history of Ankoku Butoh appears as if it is my personal history.If Ankoku Butoh was just a dance, I believe, I would have given up on it long ago …

The event will feature excerpts from two films:

»Summer Storm«
Hijikata’s last performance (1973) and Yoko Ashikawa

»Argentina«
famous performance of Kazuo Ohno, shown in Tokyo