Butoh: Body on the Edge of Crisis

 

Butoh is a type of modern Japanese dance that came into existence after World War II, in conjunction with the Japanese student riots. The inventors of Butoh, returning to Japan after studying modern dance in Germany, sought a new form of expression through movement that maintained a cultural connection to Japan rather than copying the western techniques. The first Butoh performances were provocative, and wild, causing the style and performers to be banned.

 

Butoh performers commonly wear white body makeup and use slow, hyper-controlled motions. The idea behind butoh is to allow the body to express itself much more naturally than traditional Japanese dance, to reenact the movements of the common people rather than those of trained dancers. By distorting the face and body, the performer frees him/herself from the socially acceptable forms of expression and instead allows the body to move in an organic, natural way.

– http://globalshakespeares.mit.edu/glossary/butoh/

 

Takeaway: Butoh strips itself from the layers that were build up by western influences and traditional Japanese theatre, Noh. It reveals the inner depths of the self, unlocking the true identity of the dancer. Butoh searches for energy from the underground/nature. If we were to compare Butoh with Noh, Noh uses masks to conceal the actors face – focusing primarily on movement that would bring about certain expressions, without revealing the actor’s face. Butoh’s intention is to expose the very being of humans. Symbolically, the white body makeup could act as a mask, but instead of concealing, it exposes and amplifies expressions. 

Somebody – Miranda July

It’s a sad fact of modern life that all this time spent staring at screens in order to communicate has the adverse effect of stopping us from actually communicating at all. Fortunately Miranda July has found a solution; an app which allows other people to deliver your messages face-to-face on your behalf. Sponsored by Miu Miu the app allows you to choose the deliverer of your message and to suggest the manner in which they should do so, for example, “confidently,” “longingly,” or with air quotes. Even better the actor, writer and artist also created a short film to illustrate just how effectively the app can work, and true to form it’s chic, hilarious and actually very touching. The whole process has a hint of that 1990s board game Dream Phone about it too, which is a vibe I’m always delighted to channel. –It’s Nice That 

 

Takeaway: Miranda July often explores themes on human relationships in her works. Somebody makes use of other people to deliver messages that would be to difficult for you to say it in person. Instead of letting whatsapp do the job for you – which could lead to further miscommunication as we often overlook on a person’s tone of voice or we assume the person’s feelings, all based on text we see on screen, this app allows you to deliver the message, in your desired tone of voice while still retaining the human aspect of communication that we don’t often get at this day and age – talking face to face. 

How the Dogon Mask Dance Reflects the Universe / African Cosmos

A similar binary connection between earth and sky may be found in the crossbar of the superstructure of Dogon kanaga masks that appears at funerals to lead the soul of the deceased to the afterlife. In the performance, the dancers reportedly touched the tip of the mask to the earth in the four cardinal direction, possibly representing “the movement imposed upon the universe by [the Creator] Amma.” Though interpretations vary, the upper crossbar is said to represent the sky, the lower, the earth , emphasising cultural notions of duality or contrasting opposites which is fundamental in Dogon thought. 

 

 

The great plank masks called sirige seemingly reach for the heavens, their tall superstructures bridging earth and sky. 

 

Germaine Dieterlen described them as representing “stars in great number, implying infinite multiplication and suggesting a series of galaxies and their movements in space,” but she noted that the form implies the “journey between Heaven and Earth” of Amma’s first creation, Ogo the descent of the first ancestors or nommo, and “the many–storied family house, which shelters the ancestral altars”. These are always described in relation to astronomy, as conceived by the Dogon ….A procession of masks represents the ensemble of the universe. 

 

– Performing the Moral Universe, African Cosmos, Christine Mullen Kreamer