Dance Video Index

In this database, you will find 200 dance videos which were collected in the 2023 fiscal year under the auspices of the EPAD (Eternal Performing Arts Archives and Digital Theatre) .

Overview

• Title
• Performer(s)
• Year performed

• Song of the Owl

  Orita Katsuko collected owls, which are said to bring good luck*. In Greek mythology, the owl is a symbol of the goddess Athena. This work explores the nocturnal and mysterious characteristics of the owl as its theme.
  *Not living owls
  
  -Presented at the ORITA KATSUKO DANCE RECITAL.

  

  Performer(s)

  Midori Ishii and Katsuko Orita Dance Studio

  Director/Choreographer

  Katsuko Orita

  Venue

  Sogetsu Hall

  Year performed

  1980

• Konpaku [Soul]

  One of Ishii Midori's early works was 'Himeyuri no To' [Tower of Himeyuri]. This work, 'Konpaku', shows her shift from direct expression to a more abstract form of expression. This dance of mourning performed to Faure's 'Requiem' expresses sorrow over the tragedy of war, and the desire to heal people through dance and music.
  During the war, Ishii went to Southeast Asia with composer Koseki Yuji and others to give performances for the troops. They also performed many performances of encouragement in Japan.
  
  -From an Ishii Midori Dance Performance.

  

  Performer(s)

  Midori Ishii and Katsuko Orita Dance Studio

  Director/Choreographer

  Midori Ishii

  Venue

  Tokyo Post Saving Hall

  Year performed

  1987

• Spiral Dream – Then Find the Hidden Stone

  Spirals are the form of life. They surround us everywhere: in the bud of a morning glory, the structure of the galaxy, in DNA. Spirals dance through life, living, death and destruction, all creation. We are suspended in the dream of the body, in the midst of ascent and descent. But do not be alarmed, because we know that truth is hidden in the unformed and the invisible. Butoh is a signpost. Seeds should be sown in fresh soil. Let us wait for the day new, never before seen sprouts appear.

  Performer(s)

  Yukio Waguri + Kozensha

  Director/Choreographer

  Yukio Waguri

  Venue

  La Vita Hall

  Year performed

  1994

• Spiral Dream – Two Nights of Butoh + Piano

  Spirals are the form of life. They surround us everywhere: in the bud of a morning glory, the structure of the galaxy, in DNA. Spirals dance through life, living, death and destruction, all creation. We are suspended in the dream of the body, in the midst of ascent and descent. But do not be alarmed, because we know that truth is hidden in the unformed and the invisible. Butoh is a signpost. Seeds should be sown in fresh soil. Let us wait for the day new, never before seen sprouts appear.

  Performer(s)

  Yukio Waguri + Kozensha

  Director/Choreographer

  Yukio Waguri

  Venue

  Jean-Jean (Tokyo)

  Year performed

  1994

• Splish Splash

  The performers of Splish Splash seem to reproduce the axial stop-and-go movement of the computer game Pacman in apparitional, partly repretitive movment patterns in different settings.The rapid and surreal visual language and the symbolic props create a cryptic commentary on facts of the entertainment industry.

  

  Performer(s)

  Yoshiko Chuma

  Director/Choreographer

  Yoshiko Chuma

  Year performed

  1982

• The Standing Sticks: May Only I Live Long

  Director Ikunishi Yasunori turns two texts by Hijikata Tatsumi - "Yameru Maihime" and "The Compassionate Soul Bird Comes To Unfurl Its Rustling Skeletal Wings" - into a theatrical performance. The words of Hijikata, uttered by two performers who barely move, mix with silence and the sound of trains, reverberating round the underground space. Within, the bodies tremble, and their fluctuations are imparted to the viewers, creating a different experience and story for each. These "fluctuations" are carefully picked out through video and sound by Kakegawa Yasunori.
  
  Texts: From 'Yameru Maihime' and 'The Compassionate Soul Bird Comes To Unfurl Its Rustling Skeletal Wings' by Tatsumi Hijikata
  
  - Created as a video piece. The venue indicates where it was filmed, while the performance period refers to the dates the work was available for online viewing, from its release date until the conclusion of the Tokyo Real Underground festival (1 April - 15 August 2021).
  -Tokyo Real Underground (Tokyo Tokyo FESTIVAL Special 13)
  -Takao Kawaguchi Selection: Un Certain Regard

  

  Performer(s)

  NPO Dance Archive Network

  Director/Choreographer

  Yasunori Ikunishi

  Venue

  Filmed at Former Hakubutsukan Dobutsuen Station [Museum Zoo Station]

  Year performed

  2021

• Standing

  A solo piece exploring the speed and accents of movement through repetition.
  

  

  Performer(s)

  Bonjin Atsugi

  Director/Choreographer

  Bonjin Atsugi

• Step into the Night, Odette

  In March 1998, butoh dancer Yamada Ippei (aka Bishop Yamada) stayed in Kyiv and choreographed "Dark Wings" for the National Shevchenko Theater Ballet Group, which was performed at the National Opera of Ukraine. It was the first time these ballet dancers, including Anna Kouschneryova, a national star in Ukraine at the time, had ever encountered butoh. This work is a remake of "Dark Wings", performed in Tokyo with mostly the same cast under the new title "Step into the Night, Odette".

  

  Performer(s)

  Hoppo Butoh-ha

  Director/Choreographer

  Ippei Yamada

  Venue

  Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre

  Year performed

  1998

• The Story of Sun and Moon (rehearsal)

  The Story of Sun and Moon' is a tale of light and shadow. It is also a story of a man's 'torn soul' as he searches through a labyrinth of light and shadow. The 'shadows', which at times turn into demi-gods and at times into kannon [goddess of Mercy], invite him to open several doors. Another self walks from the bottom of the water mirror. Rituals of death and rebirth in a labyrinth of expansion and contraction. A dream that regresses. The body of the dream is caught up in a spiral vortex...
  
  - Footage of a full-length rehearsal from a residency in Hinohara village in December 1992.
  - The performance took place at the Seed Hall in Tokyo from 22 January 1993 - 26 January 1993.

  

  Performer(s)

  Yukio Waguri + Kozensha

  Director/Choreographer

  Yukio Waguri

  Venue

  Hinohara village

  Year performed

  1993

• The Strange Dreaming Being (Welwitschia)

  This abstract work is inspired by Welwitschia mirabilis, a plant that lives for a thousand years in the deserts of Namibia, feeding only on sea mist and growing with only two leaves. Welwitschia, slumbering in a harsh environment, is born from a flower in a dream and plays inside a cosmic egg, then wanders in the deep jungle, carries fire and water, and longs for the lives that have passed by.

  

  Performer(s)

  Performance Troupe TAIHEN

  Director/Choreographer

  Manri Kim

  Venue

  AI Hall (Itami City Theater Hall)

  Year performed

  1992

• A Strange Hotel

  The final piece from the 'THE MUSIC POTLATCH' series, which began in March 1985 and was held at Shibuya Jean-Jean. It is the only piece in the series in which Furukawa Anzu performed with Japanese music. The lively exchanges between Furukawa and Kineya Yasosuke, the "Japanese Paco de Lucia", have the audience laughing out loud.
  The entire performance takes place at a "Strange Hotel", which is based on the house of a demon from the nagauta song "Adachigahara".
  
  Act 1: Happy New Year ("Sanbaso" [New Year celebratory performance])
  Act 2: The Room Next Door (Yasosuke-Anzu Battle of Talents)
  Act 3: The Secret of the Hotel ("Adachigahara" - the complete nagauta song)

  

  Performer(s)

  Anzu Furukawa

  Director/Choreographer

  Anzu Furukawa

  Venue

  Jean-Jean

  Year performed

  1986

• Strange loneliness

  A woman and a girl meet and lie on two trees, as if they are doubles. They sleep, exchange words, and expand their imaginations of the outside world. Where is this? A voice they hear reminds them of time. The play between these two lonely yet fulfilled individuals nurtures their fundamental trust, while opening doors to the world.
  
  - Yamada Setsuko Dance Performance

  

  Performer(s)

  Setsuko Yamada

  Director/Choreographer

  Setsuko Yamada

  Venue

  Spiral Hall

  Year performed

  2005

• Suitei-Koji

  Numerous stories rise, are expelled, and are swallowed up by the Swamp of Memories. In what appears as an ambiguous boundary between land and water, a feast of female butoh unfolds.

  

  Performer(s)

  Butoh-sha Tenkei

  Director/Choreographer

  Mutsuko Tanaka

  Venue

  Terpsichore

  Year performed

  2019

• SUKANPO

  Fourth performance of "Omori Masahide Butoh: Ammonite Claws". Born in a mining town in Hokkaido, Omori recalls eating "sukanpo" (Japanese knotweed) that grew in clusters in the fields during his childhood. In this work, he seeks to discover a body that, while always present, remains useless and unnamed. Jokyo Gekijo [Situation Theatre] actor Tenjiku Goro, and Tokikei - a performer from Hijikata Tatsumi's "Twenty-Seven Nights for Four Seasons" - make unplanned appearances on stage. Near the end, actress Nakajima Aoi calls out "Omori-san, you're doing great". After the performance, Ohno Kazuo, Hijikata Tatsumi, Goda Nario, Nagao Kazuo, Ikemiya Nobuo, Jean Kalman and others can be seen in the audience. The footage captures the atmosphere of butoh performances of that time.

  

  Performer(s)

  Terpsichore

  Director/Choreographer

  Masahide Omori

  Venue

  Terpsichore

  Year performed

  1984

• The Summer I Danced in Busan – Strange Dance

  A documentary following Fukushi Shoichi's participation in the Busan International Seaside Dance Festival in summer 1997. In addition to an interview in which Fukushi discusses his own philosophy on dance, the programme highlights other aspects of his work through conversations with butoh dancer Mori Shigeya and folklorist Akasaka Norio, both of whom have had a strong influence on him. It also includes a discussion with Fukushi Teruko, who works alongside him. The documentary showcases Fukushi’s unique approach to dance as he improvises in the markets and on the beaches of Busan, joining strangers and creating emotional exchanges in each moment, revealing the true essence of his style of work.

  

  Performer(s)

  Shoichi Fukushi

  Director/Choreographer

  Shoichi Fukushi

  Venue

  Busan

  Year performed

  1997

• The Sun God’s Temptation

  Performance documentation of Kumano Spark (Kumano International Art Festival) for which Byakko-sha's founder, Osuka Isamu, served as artistic director. Featuring percussionist Dou Dou N'diaye Rose from Senegal, Indian dancer Shakti, modern dancers from the Kuniko Kawakami Dance Studio, and the all-female Japanese drum group HONO-O-DAIKO, the piece brings Osuka's vision of Kumano as a platform for international arts to life, highlighting its unique geography and rich ancient culture. Produced exclusively for the festival, this work was directed by Osuka.
  The Kumano International Art Festival was held as part of the World Resort Expo.
  
  -Bentenjima Marine Open Air Theatre
  -Kumano Spark: Kumano International Art Festival

  

  Performer(s)

  Byakko-sha

  Director/Choreographer

  Isamu Osuka

  Venue

  Bentenjima Marine Open Air Theatre

  Year performed

  1993

• Survivor

  Solo dance piece inspired by Melchior Lengyel's play "The Miraculous Mandarin", which explores the boundaries between sexuality, life and death, reality and fiction, and the sacred and the profane. Electronic sounds are transmitted from the stage throughout the performance. It was presented as part of the 4th Theater X International Dance Festival in 2000.
  
  -Sakurai Ikuya Dance Performance
  -The 4th Theater X International Dance Festival 2000

  

  Performer(s)

  Ikuya Sakurai

  Director/Choreographer

  Ikuya Sakurai

  Venue

  THEATER X

  Year performed

  2000

• SUSABI [S’amuser]

  Premiered in Paris, 1989. 'S'amuser' (Susabi in Japanese), means 'play'. It is a part of the dance series 'Shozoku wa Mizu' [Costume is Water] which embodies the structure of self-love expressed in 'Awahi' from the same series, based on the Noh play 'Izutsu'. The beauty and dangers of love are expressed through a dance performed on top of a 1m² x 6mm glass sheet balanced on 5-6 cups filled 70% with water. During the performance in Paris, there was an incident where the dancer broke through the glass sheet, which later became a theme in Iwana Masaki's fourth feature film 'Charlotte-Susabi' (2017).
  
  -Masaki Iwana Solo Butoh Dance

  Performer(s)

  Studio 200

  Director/Choreographer

  Masaki Iwana

  Venue

  Studio 200

  Year performed

  1989

• Suspicion

  Third collaboration between hardcore contemporary dance company Ohashi Kakuya and Dancers and emerging alternative rock band Kukangendai. The piece explores themes of documentation, memory, and rebirth, with the dancers wandering in search of memories in the fading light. The title is taken from Alfred Hitchcock's film "Suspicion".
  
  -Kazuo Ohno Festival 2012

  

  Performer(s)

  Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio

  Director/Choreographer

  Kakuya Ohashi

  Venue

  BankART Studio NYK

  Year performed

  2012

• Suzuranto Butoh Event: Mai Mizore

  Performance commemorating the publication of 'Suzuranto Shashin-shu: Mai Mai LOVE - Yami-suru Shiroki Maihime-tachi' [Suzuranto Photo Book: Mai Mai LOVE - White Dancers in the Dark] (Published 30 October 1981). Suzuranto was an all-female butoh group led by Yuki Yuko, and was a subset of the Hoppo Butoh-ha group led by Bishop Yamada. The group was named after lily of the valley [Suzuran in Japanese], a beautiful and poisonous plant. Toyotama Garan was the rehearsal space of Dairakudakan in Toyotama, Nerima Ward.

  Performer(s)

  Hoppo Butoh-ha

  Venue

  Dairakudakan Rehearsal Studio Toyotama

  Year performed

  1981

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