Kazuo Ohno dancing in his 90's

Kazuo Ohno is one of the principal founders of Butoh in Japan. He was born in Hakodate, Hokkaido, 103 years ago and danced well into his 90's. He worked along with Hijikata Tatsumi whom many consider the originator of Butoh. They conceived this new dance form as a reaction to Western styles of modern dance. Their first Butoh performance took place in Japan over 50 years ago. One piece they created was called Kinjiki (Forbidden Colors) after the novel of the same name by Yukio Mishima. It involved, in part, Hijikata chasing Yoshito Ohno -- Kazuo's son -- around a dark stage. Kinjiki had a homosexual theme and involved Ohno simulating sex with a chicken -- and then strangling it. Japan's modern dance community was outraged. Afterwards, the two men were barred from any officially sanctioned performances. Instead, they went underground where they refined their new art form. Kazuo Ohno has remained a devout Baptist from his conversion as a young man until the present day.






Yuko Ota and Vanessa Skantze at the Masonic Hall in Port Townsend, Washington, celebrating Kuzuo Ohno's Birthday. If I wanted to make films I would try for something like this: a passionate blend of images, dance, music, and of course naked performers with white powdered bodies contorting and writhing for some reason I'll never fathom. I definitely want to see more live Butoh, or an offshoot of it. Inestimably weird, feral, primal, ecstatic, balanced and sexy. It seems popular in San Francisco, the Northwest, New York, Canada, Europe and Japan. Unfortunately, it seems difficult to find performances here in Los Angeles. But I'll keep looking.

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Dancing After Enola Gay

It's a pity that I don't know computer video formats better, because the video on the right contains some great clips in the original. Unfortunately, when I got done with them they have pixels the size of barns, each frame chugs along as if it's being driven by a bicycle with a slack chain, and of course the audio track isn't in sync with the teeny picture. Perhaps I should remember my limitations next time. For anyone interested, you can always go into YouTube and look through Butoh dancers and Pina Bausch for most of the raw materials. Butoh is great. Pina Bausch is the stuff of legend. As for the woman dancing on the wine bottles, she must have practiced quite a bit. Lets see, what else can I say--her outfit is inspiring. Apparently, the bar is named after a black cat, though the owner seems rather nonplussed. She's got my applause.

I'm reminded of a time . . .