The Grotesque Beauty of Butoh at Howl! Happening

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Wednesday, 13 July 2016 18:51

Written by Renzo Adler

Haunting, mesmerizing, and a little disturbing, Butoh is a form of Japanese theatre unlike anything else. Eschewing the formality of Noh and the pageantry of Kabuki, Butoh takes it’s cues from interpretive dance, but the performers tend to resemble contorted corpses rather than Baryshnikov. Butoh is an expression of Japanese post-war horror and identity crisis. The 1969 Japanese cult classic The Horror of Malformed Men even used Butoh dancers to play Dr. Moreau-esque creatures. Now the Howl! Happening gallery (6 E 1st St, New York, NY) will be exhibiting (FOR FREE!) the Butoh Film Series, running July 13 - 17, 2016. 2016 marks the 6th and 30th Anniversary of the passing of founders of Butoh, Kazuo Ohno, and Tatsumi Hijikata, both of whom have documentaries in this film series.

Kicking off the series is Kazuo Ohno in Conversation at 86, directed by Toru Fukui. Kazuo Ohno (1906 - 2010) was the co-founder of Butoh with Tatusmi Hijikata. Ohno based many of his performances on the horrors he witnessed in China during World War II. The next film is Tatsumi Hijikata: Summer Storm, chronicles a 1973 performance by Hijikata. And ending the series is  Sankai Juku: Umusuna, a recording of a 2015 performance. Founded by Ushio Amagatsu in 1975, Sankai Juku also performed at the Nancy International Festival in France. The performance was such a sensation and that the Avignon Festival invited them to perform that year as well. Since 1982, Sankai Juku has premiered a new piece approximately once every two years at Theatre de la Ville, Paris, and continues to introduce Butoh to audiences worldwide.

If you are looking for a free film festival and a chance to see some truly bizarre Japanese performing arts, come to the Howl! Happening.

To learn more, go to: http://www.howlarts.org/happening-now/

Butoh Film Series
July 13 - 17, 2016

Howl! Happening
6 E 1st St.
New York, NY 10003

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