COMMENTS ON BUTOH BY TADASHI OKAMURA

　

Original Butoh

Nowadays, many people would regard butoh as a performing art classified in contemporary dance. In fact, it is not rare that some elements of modern dance or even ballet have been found in performances of well-known butoh dancers. As for butoh performers in the second and third generations, they seem to have been adopted variety of movements and forms rooted in western traditional and modern dance almost without hesitation, since they are relatively free from  preconceptions and images of the early butoh called Ankoku-Butoh. Tatsumi Hijikata, a founder of butoh, entitled his works as this, where ankoku means darkness in Japanese though nobody would know what he meant by using this word since he was very skilful in rhetoric as well.

In order to understand about butoh, it is very important to remember that butoh works of Tatsumi Hijikata apparently showed that he turned his back on the western traditional dance. Ankoku-Butoh was completely different in nature from all sorts of dance rooted in western countries. Contrary to it, current butoh inclines toward such ordinary dance.

People are likely to remember the Ankoku-Butoh with grotesque images. In fact, Its images situated at quite distant place from where those of ballet refined by sense of beauty in the modern European Courts exist. However, the Hijikata’s works included neither what they call vulgar nor ungainly expression. His art can not be simply classified as avant-garde in dance that only revolts against conservative ones.

What he aggressively showed were human sceneries including many figures and features of people, which were neglected or abandoned by modernization or fallen behind the times. Not a few Japanese in the last two centuries yielded to transforming themselves into, so to speak, western people in Asia. Hijikata exposed their native features which they might have an abhorrence of because of the westernization or forgot about unconsciously. In the latter half of the last century, when people became aware of harmful aspects of materialism and modernism that had turned out to be explicit, he exhibited very fertile human images in front of people. These images do not relate completely with modern criteria of beauty but are still alive in people’s mind as inherent human memories. His art was not limited in remote and local area of the Far East but included universal factors.

　

Arbitrary Character of Butoh

Unique characters of Hijikata’s butoh is clear as described, however, the situations of butoh of the others are not necessarily the same as his. It is obvious that traditional dance consists of its own styles and techniques. Contrary to this fact, butoh in general has neither established style nor agreement to define itself. In Hijikata’s butoh, especially that in the latter period, there were a number of forms that he invented and accumulated to construct his works, but those did not become common and established in butoh later as contents of its inherent style. These forms can not be defined simply but those can be realized only under complex conditions given by Hijikata. Thus, those inevitably invite difficulty in succession by followers.

As a rule, there is a tendency in butoh to keep the centre of gravity of body low, however, this is common in Asian dance and theatre including variety of Japanese traditional dances. It is worthwhile to note that one of remarkable characters of Noh, old Japanese dance, is that performers tend to move with very low speed. This character is common in performances of butoh though there are exceptions.

It is clear that there is no established definition in butoh. If you ask butoh performers what butoh is, they would give you different answers. Nowadays, it is not too much to say that each one has one’s own thoughts about butoh. It is reasonable to consider that this variety was formed by how butoh originated and have been succeeded. However, if such arbitrary nature will be expanded further, identity of butoh would be lost, and consequently, butoh would disappear by being buried among another performing arts. It is pity for us if butoh is becoming merely a name. In spite of the actual situation that the essence is apt to be forgotten, there certainly are inherent characters in butoh that can not be found in another genres of performing art. Butoh seems to be forming unique realm in art with its distinct characters.

　

Inherent Character of Butoh, Butohtai

First of all, one of notable inherent characters of butoh is how body exists and act. Fundamental nature of the body in butoh is essentially different from that in another genres. What makes this difference is that the body is a medium to realize specific forms and movements for e.g. ballet and modern dance. There, the forms and the movements have character as a sign and time-series of these forms a text of structure of the work. Audience perceives the meanings of the signs with images in a context of the work. Though there are many exception performances of butoh have sort of contexts, but those do not consist of the series of the signs.

Very important matter is that the body in butoh performance rejects being the medium to represents the sign. We call such a body as butohtai (body in butoh). Butoh needs this but not the body only being medium for modern expression. Ballet and modern dance needs functional body instead, which is a body that fits physically for their purposes with accuracy. In this sense, such a body is obedient to purposiveness included in the modernism. Ideally, butohtai is a body essentially liberated from being as a tool. Such body is considered to be inherent for butoh and this realizes its unique expression.

　

Butohtai as an Art Object

As Marcel Duchamp, a leader of modern artist, did in the similar way, if someone put a used stuff on the floor of exhibition with a title, what does observer see? It may not look only to be the used stuff but something else, because it has been deprived its sign that represents its function. The sign is labeled on the function that is meaningful only in behavior to use this stuff.

A large part of the daily time that belongs to the observer is spent for corresponding to and dealing with tremendous number of signs, since substances around us may be labeled by the signs that represent those functions for usage. People apt to confirm these signs instead of looking at the details of real substances. However in the exhibition, they gaze at the piece in detail and would see its real face. In other words, the true nature of substance as material reveals itself in front of the observer.

This situation is common in butoh, because the butohtai is the same kind of object as mentioned above. Butohtai is free from the sign, and therefore, does not devote itself to the ideas of beauty and daily human behaviors. Audience gazes and watches at an appearance of the body remembering images that they have ever met. It is clear that the body permitting such observation is not one that runs around, jumps up, spins and always moves swiftly in front of the audience. Instead, the body that is apt to stay almost still and metamorphoses with enough time enfolding time with very high concentration and density is required, though rapid moves must be also allowed for its action generating time with different quality. Butohtai is the body that includes such nature as the object.

We remember here the fact that butoh was formed through direct interactions between Hijikata and modern artists in radical movements. In modern art, sometimes they might deal with materials as direct objects but not as medium for their specific expression.

　

Temporal Character of Butoh

While audience stares at butohtai (body in butoh), time restores its own close and dense structure. Namely, there the time is not one that seems to flow through movements of performer but it is with the butohtai exhibiting its nature as material. Such temporal character is considered to be inherent in butoh. The time shared with butoh has no relation to the geometrical concept of time in modern science. On the other hand, ballet and modern dance which originated under the strong influence of modernism may reflect such concept of time. Fundaments of the dances based on the evolution of movements and forms. Therefore, the time appeared there can be recognized as being continuous and homogenous like a line. It must be mentioned here that physical time in modern science is only one-dimensional space that means a line, though we conceive time with quite different qualities. In the theory of physics, the time is considered to constitute four-dimansional abstract space with real three-dimentional space.

The dances in the modern era, except butoh, are apt to be obedient to scientific analysis and synthesis by using technological means. Currently, it is possible to create dance work by using computer. At first, they simply collect many movements and forms from real dance performances to abstract prototypes statistically. Then, combining obtained elements and statistical data, they simulate many possible performances in virtual space to pick up favorite candidates. They can even choreograph dancer according to the results of the computational anlysis. If such scientific technique will become popular , new field would possibly appear in future. However, how will they find there real body liberated from the technology?

It is well known that Henri Bergson, a philosopher born in 1859, severely criticized the fact that modern intellect regards time as space. As mentioned above, essentially butoh is not obedient to scientific analysis. What can be seen in butoh as its inherent characters refuse the scientific analysis and synthesis. Butoh exposes texture of time in front of the audience by bringing the unique body into performing space. The time appears there is not physical time but that experienced by us as Bergson once contemplated about it. People may feel strange if they know there is nothing called "now" in physics. It is true though there is arbitrary "time point" on a line. You can call ether side of the point as past or future but that is only because of convenience for mathematical recognition. Surely there is no concept of past, present and future in the framework of this fundamental theory.

Watching at butoh the audience may feel intense now deep in mind because that exists in the texture of time exhibited by butohtai. Many images overlapping each other emerge from the darkness of memories that is sometimes called past. An image of body is not body itself. Body as being the art object, butohtai, generates infinite numbers of images which can not be fully drawn. This must be true face of time generating images.

Moment and now sound synonym each other. The moment is usually time period with extremely short duration, however, if it is defined as being infinitely short, it is simply an idea or even an illusion. Considering our experiences, we can understand the moment as a certain state of conscious. How do you think about the now? If you say that it is only present time, you say of cause nothing about it. Now is real but very mysterious since past and future is not here. Butoh concerns with such now, which assume to be generating future that has never existed. The future should be quite new thus in the darkness of mind that means unknown.

　

Expression in Butoh

When we talk about expression in butoh first of all we have to say that it does not consist merely in representation of specific object including thoughts or emotions. It is neither indicative description nor imitation of something. If performer intends to convey something concretely to the audience, performer’s body is only medium of communication. Butohtai (body in butoh) is not the medium as described elsewhere. There is even no terminology like concrete or abstract expression in butoh though it relates with modern art. However, the unique point is that the hyper-real concrete images are exhibited by the butohtai in front of the audience.

Whatever butoh performer feel or think in mind, of course it does not convey directly to the audience. If the conscious as the subject of expression seizes power, at that very moment the butohtai would disappear, and daily body of no interest which is almost slave of our conscious appears instead. Intended expression as usual is inconsistent with real expression in butoh. Thus butoh performer stands before the audience being incapable to be captured by such contradiction. To fulfill this condition, they have to be free from pretentious sense of beauty or self-conscious. They may experience quiet and transparent universe that includes themselves and the audience during performance.

Multiple images would be induced for the audience by the butohtai while it must be basically like empty space for the performer where many images freely come in and go out. Such inner experience of the performer also may not common in another performing arts including variety of contemporary dance. It is obvious that butoh has its own inherent expression and thereby this art is very unique.

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