Tatsumi Hijikata

My first contact with modern dance come through the art of Butoh, while attending a seminar by Sumako Koseki. It is hard to talk about butoh either from the point of a performer or a spectator. Therefore, I will only transfer what my Sumako once told me. Butoh is to exist in life like a young cat does. No more no less. 

Tatsumi Hijikata started butoh in Japan after the second world war as an artistic counterpoint of the westernization of Japan's culture.  In contrary to ballet which acts above the ground, butoh is tied to the earth.  

One of my favourite Hijikata performances is here:

A Girl