Butoh is a Japanese Contemporary Performing Art  that was born by Tatsumi Hijikata and cofounded by Kazuo Ohno, an extraordinary dancer who have exported Butoh abroad with his famous piece "La Argentina".

Butoh was born officially withthe first butoh piece staged in 1959 and titled "Kinjiki/Forbidden Colours". The piece was inspired by the famous  novel by Yukio Mishima. 

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In 2020, the 8th of January,  Yoshito Ohno, the son of Kazuo Ohno, passed away. He was the last living piece of the Japanese contemporary dance called 'butoh', and a beautiful heart. He was my teacher, mentor and butoh father.

I was with him in Japan 5 years. He was the reason why I have learnt quickly Japanese. 

I wanted to understand directly his teachings. 

I was working with him as stage assistant for several years and translating his workshops and classes. During my time in Japan, as well as his tours abroad, I had the honour to stay by his side. I have observed him and collected his views. He had big visions. He was complaining about how stiff butoh was becoming in its stereotypes of distortion and grotesqueness. He had a great sense of aesthetics and was thinking widely about butoh not just as the Japanese "butoh" but as a container genre to be included officially in the international performing arts scene and in dialogue with its context and the other forms of arts.

His teachings to me were covering not only butoh dance but also directory, dramaturgy, light design, music design and composition.

He and his father loved Pina Bausch. And Pina too. The Connection between German dance and butoh has long roots.

 

 

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