"Butoh: Body on the Edge of Crisis" is a visually striking film portrait shot on location in Japan with the participation of the major Butoh choreographers and their companies. Although Butoh is often viewed as Japan's equivalent of modern dance, in actuality it has little to do with the rational principles of modernism. Butoh is a theater of improvisation which places the personal experiences of the dancer on center-stage. By reestablishing the ancient Japanese connection of dance, music, and masks, and by recalling the Buddhist death dances of rural Japan, Butoh incorporates much traditional theater. At the same time, it is a movement of resistance against the abandonment of traditional culture to a highly organized consumer-oriented society.
Yoko Ashikawa
Herself - Interviewee
Akiko Motofuji
Herself - Interviewee
Nario Goda
Himself
Tatsumi Hijikata
Himself
Yukio Waguri
Himself
Akaji Maro
Himself
Natsu Nakajima
Herself
Sanae Hiruta
Herself
Kazuo Ohno
Himself
Min Tanaka
Himself
Butoh: Body on the Edge of Crisis is a documentary film released in 1990 exploring themes of dance, butoh. Directed by Michael Blackwood, it stars Yoko Ashikawa, Akiko Motofuji, Nario Goda. "Butoh: Body on the Edge of Crisis" is a visually striking film portrait shot on location in Japan with the participation of the major Butoh choreographers and their companies. Although Butoh is often viewed as Japan's equivalent of modern dance, in actuality it has little to do with the rational principles of modernism. Butoh is a theater of improvisation which places the personal experiences of the dancer on center-stage. By reestablishing the ancient Japanese connection of dance, music, and masks, and by recalling the Buddhist death dances of rural Japan, Butoh incorporates much traditional theater. At the same time, it is a movement of resistance against the abandonment of traditional culture to a highly organized consumer-oriented society.
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