“Not thinking, only soul” – Kazuo Ohno
Critical Commentary (IS2)
Directorial Vision
I want to show that parents should not abort just because their child is a girl. I would do this through the perspective of a fetus that would eventually be aborted. The performance would be episodic, each scene highlighting the significant moments of the fetus’s life, showing my argument towards why a Chinese parent in China would subscribe to female infanticide and why they should not.
To do this, I chose Butoh movement and sound as my skills. Butoh to me, is a type of movement that shows dimensions of the world we do not see. It does not rely on form and therefore does not restrict the emotions I want to portray. The fetus comes into the world, pure and bare, devoid of sin. Her perspective gives new dimension to the world. Butoh movement would effectively recreate the (reactions to her surrounding sounds) thoughts of the fetus in the mother’s womb as thoughts and emotions of the fetus’s different dimension are not restricted by the modern day forms we usually see. Realistic snippets of sound is used effectively as an element to display the fetus’s story, so that audiences better relate to the fetus through the understanding of the real-life events that happened. The interactions of sound and movement show the audience the facts we see and the effects we do not see through movement to support my argument.
In this, I hope to remind my target audience, Chinese parents-to-be, the hope and potential their daughter presents; and to show them how mindsets are just stupid excuses for abortion compared to the potential in the baby girl.
Performance Theory
Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno were the founding fathers of Butoh. The first butoh piece was in 1959, done by Hijikata.[5] The grotesque Butoh appeared first in Japan as a reaction to the atrocities seen in the second world war and the student riots there. It also appeared as a reaction against the contemporary dance scene in Japan, which Hijikata felt was based on imitating the West and Noh and was too superficial. Ironically, Butoh had to take elements of Kabuki and Noh theatre( the white bodies and slow movement) as the subversion by Butoh then, was shunned. Butoh also took elements of German expressionism (focusing the performance mindscapes, having episodic scenes) as the founders learnt dance in Germany too.[7] This shows that Butoh is still evolving. It is even said that each performer brings a new version of Butoh. I would present my own take on Butoh and the topic I am discussing in an episodic form, depicting the emotions of the fetus.
Ohno only began developing it in 1960. Kazuo Ohno focused more on individual performance rather than group and focused on more emotion driven methods of conceiving a piece- the emotion derived from an image is put into form. Hijikata uses methods that need more strategies and techniques to put the imaginations into the nervous system and methods which contribute to group performance- form is created through very coordinated group movements to evoke the emotions of the image. Hijikata believes in form first rather than emotion, saying, “Life catches up with form.” This caused the trend towards form that is apparent in several Japanese dance groups, who merely recycle Hijikata’s shapes and present butoh that is mere body-shapes and choreography (Viala 100): which would lead butoh closer to Contemporary Dance or Performance Art than anything else. A good example of this is Torifune Butoh-sha’s recent works. [8]
Therefore, I would follow Kazuo Ohno instead of the popular Hijikata method. To me, Kazuo Ohno presents a more intimate Butoh (spotting even personal topics like his experiences with his mother)[10] and his emotion driven, individual methods give me more space for creative expression rather than a choreographed product of a group – where the performance is a result of compromises of each member because of the different perspectives. Furthermore, I want to create a piece focused on the fetus reactions and movements not a group performance.
For Kazuo Ohno, the body is “being moved,” from an internal or an external source, rather than consciously moving a body part. A certain element of “control vs. uncontrol” is present through many of the exercises[1].Butoh is a certain state of mind or feeling that influences the body directly or indirectly. As Ohno puts it, “Form comes of itself, only in so far as there is a spiritual content to begin with”[2]. Therefore, I would not use mirrors to choreograph. I would release my inhibitions and perform based on the emotions of the fetus. Digging deep into the depths of my heart to present the extremes of emotions I have for the images the fetus sees through what she hears. This would present the emotions of the fetus as well as the intensity of Butoh.
Butoh can be a state when a person becomes someone or something else and expresses an abstract idea or image based on that perspective. For example, take the studying of a rooster. “The idea was to push out all of the human inside and let the bird take its place. You may start by imitating, but imitation is not your final goal; when you believe you are thinking completely like a chicken you have succeeded.” The important thing with this is not the transformation into a chicken, but the transformation itself, the fact that you change. Only in this way you can bring the body back to its original state – as Hijikata puts it. [6] Kazuo Ohno however, does this by asking his students to do the exact opposite of what they are doing in these exercises as a subversion of what they normally see and think the image is, to show a different perspective from the one the world shows us.[4] Therefore, I will not imitate first like Hijikata says. I would move according to the emotions of the fetus and try different shapes to show the same emotion instead of following the form that immediately comes to mind.
Lastly, from my observations of Butoh performances and Kazuo Ohno’s work, I realize the extent to which they contort their bodies, especially their back. Some contort their back to make it flow through the almost impossible flexibility of their spine[9] but most just use hunchbacks and bound movement to create contortion. Every other joint in the body is also bent as much as possible to give the grotesque, contorted image of Butoh. For Kazuo Ohno, he might not always contort his back but he always bends his elbows and fingers. [10] Expressions are extreme with as much intensity as their slow movements. Sometimes, they would have faster movements but it is mostly slow.[10] Therefore, I would really have to train my back and stomach muscle and try my best to bend every single joint in my body while doing movements based on intense feelings. Their expression and movement is further intensified with the white powder on bodies and mostly all white costumes they adopt in a usually dark coloured background. Therefore, the black box would be perfect for a performance space and a proscenium seated audience would be viewing the show so that the space around most of the sides of the performances is black. This would then be in contrast to the white powder I would be using for my body and white clothes.
Evaluation
I first got inspiration from looking at the exhibition at Singapore Arts Museum on Female infanticide. One piece that really captured my attention was in a Blackbox living room with little white dresses that hung midair, giving a ghostly effect. Red threads were hung and at the bottom was statistics of female infanticide in China. I later researched more on this topic and found that it was not only in China. Female infanticide is prevalent in the whole of Asia. However, different countries have different reasons to which why they practice it.
Even though it is illegal to do so and China appears to be against it, law cannot change mindsets. Furthermore, China’s One Child policy makes it inherent for family’s to have a baby boy in order to have a male heir and to have children supporting them in old age rather than being married off to another family in the case of daughters. Therefore, through my performance I would show the hypocrisy of China and the traditions/ways of life that keeps Chinese from changing their mindset. By identifying with them, I open a door to their hearts to tell them why they should not follow the crowd. I would help them recognize their child’s potential and cruel nature of abortion towards mother and child as reasons that rule out the possibilities of female infanticide no matter what the circumstance.
I initially wanted to use Shinonme Butoh on the more optimistic moments of the but I could not find enough resources on how they formulate their piece and what conventions they adhere to. Furthermore, they have only done 3 pieces and their website is quite outdated. Therefore, I could not gain enough foundation theory of it to use it.
I used emotion themed scenes as Butoh is not only dependant on imagination but largely on emotion as well.
Blibliography
- Maureen Freehill. Interview from Oregon literary review: What is Butoh? Online. 16 July 2009
<http://maureenfreehill.blogspot.com/2009/07/interview-from-oregon-literary-review.html>
- Ohno, Kazuo and Yoshito Ohno. Kazuo Ohno’s World from Without and Within. Trans. John Barrett. Middletown: Wesleyan U P, 2004. (Online excerpt)
- What is Shinonme Butoh? Shinonme Butoh, 2002. Online.
<http://www.shinonomebutoh.com>
- Sondra Horton Fraleigh. Dancing into Darkness: Butoh, Zen and Japan. University of Pittsburg Press, 1999.
- Dan Herman. What is Butoh? Online. 10 March 2003.
<http://www.butoh.net/define.html>
- Buto Dance of Darkness. Neo Zen Dinamico, 2009. Online. 30 June 2009.
<http://www.zen-neozen.eu/Theatre/Theatre%20bu-to.htm>
- Mathew Romantini. 10 Questions. Online. 21 July 2007.
<http://theatreisterritory.com/tag/matthew-romantini/>
- Coelho, Abel. A Compilation of Butoh Exercises. Honolulu: U H Dept. of Theatre and Dance 2008 (Online excerpt)
- Vanessa Skantze. Blood Remembers, Skin Yearns. Online video. 27 April 2008.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2RJ9JCDakQ>
- Kazuo Ohno. Dance of Darkness Ohno or “Ono” Excerpt Online Video. 10 May 2008.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gqukIxf8oM&NR=1>
