Japanese Butoh versus Western Modern Dance

Japanese Butoh versus Western Modern Dance Ankoku Butoh –– or “Dance of Utter Darkness,” is a Japanese dance form that emerged from a restless post-World War 2 Japanese society. The dance form is deeply influenced by Western thinkers, philosophers, and artists who adopts dark Gnostic principles, such as Georges Bataille and Antonin Artaud1. Butoh consistently focuses on themes considered taboo such as sexuality, eroticism, and other dark explorations of the dark soul. The art form surfaced because during the post-World War 2 era, the Japanese society experiences various social unrest, therefore the art and culture becomes a channel of rebellion against not only the traditional Japanese art and cultural practices, but also that of the West. Because of the complex relationship between butoh and Western influences2, I am interested in exploring how Western modern dance influences butoh. Specifically, this paper will focus on how the training in modern dance influences training in butoh, while simultaneously touching upon issues such as the differences of pedagogies, the thematic elements, the movement qualities, and the different cognitive processes used in learning each dance form. Based on research on scholarly articles, performance observations, and interviews I conducted with several butoh artists who has modern dance experience and several who do not, I will argue that training in modern dance only helps develop the physicality for dancers to learn butoh but does not influence the internal sensation of the dance, which is an essential element of butoh as a dance form. Butoh artists highly value the internal sensation of dancing butoh, including but not limited to the spiritual nature of the dance or the mindset with which dancers practice butoh. For example, dance scholar Catherine Curtin wrote that Hijikata Tatsumi –– butoh creator and pioneer –– created an art form that produces a sensation far more than just earthly. She writes:
“[Hijikata] staged the

Bibliography: Curtin, Catherine. “Recovering the Body and Expanding the Boundaries of Self in Japanese Butoh: Hijikata, Tatsumi, Georges Bataille and Antonin Artaud.” Contemporary Theatre Review, no. 20 (2010): 56-67. Sweeney, Rachel. “Distilling principles - an investigation of the role of consciousness in butoh training.” Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, no. 3 (2012): 73.