Overview

• Title
• Performer
• Year

• Lion Heart

  A single branch covered in cotton, strapped to the wrist and carried on the shoulder, appears as a large wing. The tilted head bobs slow and silent. Only minute vibrations form the dance. The Village Voice dance critic Deborah Jowitt described this work as 'the Joan of Arc of Butoh'. It became the starting point for Yamda Setsuko's dance.
  
  - Yamada Setsuko Butoh Performance

  

  Performer(s)

  Setsuko Yamada

  Director/Choreographer

  Setsuko Yamada

  Venue

  Saramu-kan Studio 33

  Year performed

  1982

• LIGHT, Part5

  Kei Takei made her New York debut with 'LIGHT, Part 1' since 1969, which became a long term series. As of December 2022 she has created up to Part 54. Some of these works have been solo pieces, others performed with a group. Although each piece is individual, they are all linked to create one 'LIGHT' series.
  'LIGHT Part 5' was first performed at the Dance Theater Workshop in New York in November 1972. The video is of when the piece was performed in the garden of Musashino Art University in the rain in 1990, by Kei Takai along with two men.

  

  Performer(s)

  Kei Takei’s Moving Earth

  Director/Choreographer

  Kei Takei

  Venue

  Musashino Art University

  Year performed

  1990

• Letter to Abakanowicz: The Silent Body

  Motofuji Akiko performed 'Letter to Abakanowicz' the previous year at Asbestos-kan. This was performed again as a revised, collaborative piece between Motofuji and Abakanowicz at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Based on experiences of war, the work questions human existence, and was presented at MOCA on the 50th anniversary of radiation exposure in Hiroshima. Subtitled 'The Silent Body', it was performed by a group of nude and expressionless male butoh dancers, in an attempt to express the anonymity of Abakanowicz's sculptures.
  
  "Opening performance at 'Special Exhibition for the 50th Anniversary of the Hiroshima A-bombing: AFTER HIROSHIMA'. Two performances at 11:00 and 16:00."
  

  

  Performer(s)

  Asbestos-kan

  Director/Choreographer

  Akiko Motofuji, Magdalena Abakanowicz

  Venue

  Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art

  Year performed

  1995

• Letter to Abakanowicz (1994)

  Performance by Motofuji Akiko inspired by the installation of figurative sculptures by Magdalena Abakanowicz at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), which had been placed the previous year. After watching a video recording of the performance, Abakanowicz contacted Motofuji, and the two began corresponding by letter, discussing their creative work. How can butoh be expressed through the restricted spirits of sculpted bodies? In this way, the work became a collaboratively directed/choreographed butoh piece.

  Performer(s)

  Asbestos-kan

  Director/Choreographer

  Akiko Motofuji, Magdalena Abakanowicz

  Venue

  Asbestos-kan

  Year performed

  1994

• Laugh Box

  It has been 53 years since I graduated university. I laugh once or twice a day, so in total I have laughed nearly 40,000 times.
  I think about packing all those laughs into a casket and travelling with them to the other world. (Wakamatsu)
  This is an essay-dance by Wakamatsu, an advocate of free dance. It begins with a dance in front of a Jizo statue, followed by singing and poetry recitation. The disciples sing in chorus in the audience and in the backyard.
  'It's not just about singing and dancing, it's also about the struggles of life. A bricolaged body with something to say.'
  In the sunset, one dances.

  

  Performer(s)

  Wakamatsu Miki & Tsuda Ikuko Free Dance Performance

  Director/Choreographer

  Miki Wakamatsu

  Venue

  d-soko Theater

  Year performed

  2009

• Lament

  "LAMENT is a collaboration with video artist James Byrne.
  Movement material adapted from Eiko & Koma's 1984 performance work ELEGY.
  Sound mix by Eiko & Koma.
  Commissioned by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN and made possible with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Jerome Foundation, St. Paul, MN.
  Videographed July, 1985 at the Triplex Theatre, New York, NY.
  Edited in 1986. This video was aired nationally through LLine from Off Center PBS.
  1986, Eiko & Koma, James Byrne, Walker Art Center © Eiko & Koma. James Byrne"
  
  - Eiko & Koma's dance film series 'dance for camera'

  Performer(s)

  Eiko & Koma

  Director/Choreographer

  Eiko & Koma, James Byrne

  Venue

  Recorded at the Triplex Theater

  Year performed

  1986

• KUDAN

  Inspired by the novel of the same title by a Japanese author Hyakken Uchida (1889-1971).
  In this work, Kaseki embodies the mythical being who makes prophecies, KUDAN (man's head with an ox body). He is destined to die within three days of his birth, and yet he ruminates on the memories and feelings he had when he was a human being. He is chased, surrounded, and waited upon by people who expect the prophecy.
  The air becomes thick with anticipation and longing, and one day suffocates the audience. Fear shifts from the prophecy-unaware case to the spectators, and they flee. KUDAN stands alone again.
  The structure of fear, human desire, and foolishness are expressed with simple movements and staging, sometimes grotesque, sometimes ridiculous. Audiences are expected and anticipated, and they are seen as they watch. Who will be the next KUDAN? Fear is shaken and penetrated into the body.
  
  -Premiered in September 1998 at loplop in Berlin.

  

  Performer(s)

  Yuko Kaseki

  Director/Choreographer

  Yuko Kaseki

  Venue

  DOCK11 (Berlin)

  Year performed

  2002

• The Kindness of Lies

  The man is a director. At home, he is husband, father and son. During the production of Oedipus he becomes ill and is hospitalised. Suspecting cancer, he presses his doctors, family and friends to tell him the truth. Amidst lies and cover-ups, he compares his own behaviour with Oedipus'. While perceiving that he is incurable, he tries not to hurt his family's caring.
  As he compares himself to Oedipus and looks at death, he comes to tolerate the demeanour and nature of Japan.
  At Christmas, he tries to enjoy the moment with his friends and family. Outside the snow flutters, sweeping away the dirt.
  
  - Participated in the ACA National Arts Festival 1988

  

  Performer(s)

  Wakamatsu Miki & Tsuda Ikuko Free Dance Performance

  Director/Choreographer

  Miki Wakamatsu, Ikuko Tsuda

  Venue

  Yomiuri Hall

  Year performed

  1988

• Kenkon-tan

  Mizutani Isao was commissioned to create the stage desgin for Hijikata Tatsumi's first recital in 1960, to which he responded with originality and ingenuity, and having earned Hijikata's trust became close friends with him. Mizutani, a painter and kiln builder, based this butoh piece on the Creation story, set at a climbing kiln, which is also a site of national heritage in Seto, Aichi. It was performed by Tamano Koichi, a butoh dancer and former pupil of Hijikata based in San Fransisco. The work was presented in memory of Hijikata Tatsumi.

  

  Performer(s)

  Asbestos-kan

  Director/Choreographer

  Akiko Motofuji

  Venue

  Setohongyogama

  Year performed

  1990

• Kei Takei’s Moving Earth IN VARIABLE LANDSCAPE

  Performed at 'Noguchi's Imaginary Landscapes', an exhibition of work by sculptor Isamu Noguchi, who also worked on Martha Graham's stage design. The performance toured with the exhibition at various museums. Six dancers performed in a space named 'Variable Landscape', prepared by Noguchi prepared for the performance, moving pieces of wood and other objects and changing the landscape through physical expression. A collaborative work incorporating the beauty of Japanese life, such as paper lamps, tatami and shouji through the work of Isamu Noguchi.
  
  - The recording was filmed at the Walker Art Centre on 1 May 1978. It is not known how many performances took place there.
  

  Performer(s)

  Kei Takei’s Moving Earth

  Director/Choreographer

  Kei Takei

  Venue

  Walker Art Center

  Year performed

  1978

• KATASHIRO

  Nagato City in Yamaguchi Prefecture, where legend has it that Chikamatsu Monzaemon was born, is home to Akasaki Shrine, which houses an open-air theatre called Gakusajiki. In 1994, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the municipality, the Chikamatsu-in-Nagato '94 festival was held with various events including a commemorative lecture by Donald Keene, a local theatre performance and a puppetry show by the Children's Chikamatsu Theatre. For the festival opening, Namerikawa Goro directed this performance, which made use of the entire Gakusajiki theatre.

  Performer(s)

  Goro Namerikawa/Austro Arts Association Co.,Ltd.

  Director/Choreographer

  Goro Namerikawa

  Venue

  Akasaki Shrine Outdoor Theatre Gaku-sajiki

  Year performed

  1994

• KAMUI

  The last piece created by Goi Teru, who died in May 2008. The image of him loading and towing many, many white stones on a cart left a lasting impression. The flyer states 'Don't cry boy - Last round'.
  
  - Goi Teru Solo Butoh Performance

  

  Performer(s)

  Teru Goi

  Director/Choreographer

  Teru Goi

  Venue

  Terpsichore (Tokyo)

  Year performed

  2007

• KAIGO KAIGO KAIGO !

  Kim Manri had a home in Ikuno, but was forced to grow up in a hospital and institution far away, and was erased from the community. As she started living independently and meeting various people, the need to face Ikuno once more appeared as a natural path. What would emerge from the disabled confronting the melting pot of Korean immigrant community? This work is filled with excitement.
  
  - Gekidan Taihen / Musical for the Disabled

  

  Performer(s)

  Performance Troupe TAIHEN

  Director/Choreographer

  Manri Kim

  Venue

  Ikuno Children's Home

  Year performed

  1988

• K FRAGMENTS 1989：GEODESISTS ; FRIEDA/AMALIA ; PARALLAX

  Performed in Prague, Kafka's birthplace, for the Kafka International Theatre Festival '89. A memorable event that marked the lifting of the ban on Kafka, following the democratisation of the Czech Republic. The work presented the disconnection, power and parasitic nature of relationships in Kafka's world in 3 acts based on his unfinished novel 'The Castle'; Act 1 'The Land Surveyor', Act 2 'Frieda and Amalia' (two women from the Castle), and Act 3 'Parallax'. It presented a new look at Kafka's literature from a unique perspective.
  
  From Franz Kafka's 'The Castle':
  Act 1: Geodesists (Chapter 1 'The Land Surveyor')
  Act 2: Frieda / Amalia (Chapter 2 'Frieda and Amalia')
  Act 3: Parallax (Chapter 3 'Parallax')
  
  

  

  Performer(s)

  Molecular Theatre

  Director/Choreographer

  Shigeyuki Toshima

  Venue

  Junior Club Theatre

  Year performed

  1989

• Iwana Masaki Anthology 1989-1993

  Solo butoh performances by Iwana Masaki in Europe 1989-1993: 'Sokkyō' [Improvisation] (Helsinki, 1993), 'Susabi' (Espace Boris Vian, Paris, 1989), 'Reikyoku' [Hibernation] (1990), 'Hikari no Niku' [Meat of Light] (Théâtre des Amandiers, 1991), 'Mizuhiki ni Kochō' [Knots and Butterflies] (Théâtre Montorgueil, 1992), 'Shizugami' (Lavoir Moderne Parisien, 1993).

  

  Performer(s)

  Masaki Iwana

  Director/Choreographer

  Masaki Iwana

  Venue

  Espace Boris Vian/Théâtre des Amandiers/Théâtre Montorgueil/Lavoir Moderne Parisie

  Year performed

  1989

• ITTEKI -one drop-

  "In our days, if this country Japan were a puddle, I myself might be a single drop of water falling into it. Ripples appear, interfere each other, create various forms, and disappear to the infinite.
  In my lifetime, I feel I have encountered four impressive drops of water; a child, a woman, a man, and an old person. Four people, or just a single one? Or a mysterious image that might embody them all?
  Those four drops are what I am seeking for in my dance.
  As a drop holding day and night inside me, I would like to fall into this puddle."
  
  The Great Hanshin Earthquake occurred on 17 January 1995, and with a desire to visit and help the people of Kobe, Takenouchi Atsushi danced for the souls of the dead.
  
  - Participated in the 1st OSAKA DANCE EXPERIENCE.
  - Atsushi Takenouchi JINEN Butoh Performance
  

  

  Performer(s)

  TORII HALL

  Director/Choreographer

  Atsushi Takenouchi

  Venue

  TORII HALL

  Year performed

  1995

• IROWA NIOEDO

  Performance group Taihen's debut piece. People with disabilities, often rejected by the world, need to find intense self-affirmation and self-assertion from the moment they wake up. They need to work to affirm their own unique way of dressing, speaking and living in their body, and to say "what's wrong with being disabled?". This should be done with the freedom of thoughts that only people with disabilities can have. Theatre is a great way for people with disabilities to express themselves physically. Involving people in this first attempt, Taihen made this dramatic debut.
  

  

  Performer(s)

  Performance Troupe TAIHEN

  Director/Choreographer

  Manri Kim

  Year performed

  1983

• Rosa Yuki + SUB ROSA ‘In the Bosom of the Fire God’

  This performance took place during the 9th month of pregnancy, and my body was changing day to day. The real thrill of this performance was the attempt to create a work that reflected this experience. My body, in nurturing a foetus, was demanding unusual amounts of sleep, while I also planned for my performance. This work was created through the struggle of the body of a soon to be mother, and the will to carry out the performance.
  

  

  Performer(s)

  TORII HALL

  Director/Choreographer

  Rosa Yuki

  Venue

  TORII HALL

  Year performed

  1993

• Husk

  Having collaborated with videographers for previous media works, Eiko & Koma decided to work alone in creating Husk. Koma adopted the role of cameraman to film Eiko's solo piece. Eiko & Koma used the playback function of the video camera to create choreography for body and camera as one long take. This media dance is presented with no editing done in post-production. Sound design by Eiko. Filmed in May 1987 at the Kampo Cultural Center, New York, NY. ©1987, Eiko & Koma.
  
  - Eiko & Koma's dance film series 'dance for camera'

  

  Performer(s)

  Eiko & Koma

  Director/Choreographer

  Eiko

  Venue

  Recorded at the Kampo Cultural Center

  Year performed

  1987

• Houge 9

  1. Must be silent. 1. Must be improvised. 1. One hour, one dance. 1. Dance in a circle of light with a diameter of 2 metres. 1. Must be surrounded by the audience. I dance under the above conditions. What is truly necessary for my dance? I began this dance with just one body, but what can I convey in this space with little light with no music?'
  
  - Participated in The Second OSAKA DANCE EXPERIENCE
  - Iwashita Toru Solo Dance Performance
  

  

  Performer(s)

  TORII HALL

  Director/Choreographer

  Toru Iwashita

  Venue

  TORII HALL

  Year performed

  1996

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