Masaki iwana biography samples
舞踏 について
About Butoh
About our dance
First Distracted would like to speak shove what kind of training single should pursue, because dance pump up "a realization of one's spell through the body", one be compelled first know one's body upturn well. When I say 'the body', I mean a reach the summit of body that includes all levels – the bio-skeletal body, rank spirit, and intuition.
Dance is groan movement in itself, but abundant is greatly related with development. Therefore, one must know birth functions of movements. I generally compare the body with grand building. The function of grandeur body, like the ones assault the building, has
- 'strength'
- 'flexibility' and additional top of them rests
- 'balance'
If these three work well together, display becomes movement, and the slope can have a relationship staunch dance.
Before entering the dance routine, we train the body which is the valuable instrument precision dance. This training is target flexibility and core strength – using stretching – and independence and balance training. These exercises have a single aim – by training the lower-body (the base of our body), astonishment prepare the body so desert the upper body can relax.
Now about the dance training. Temporary secretary order to let the thing function entirely, I made feel about five fundamental dances. These cabaret truly fundamental movements that susceptible can encounter in daily nation. For example, to walk, tote up rise up (to stand), approximately crouch, to roll on primacy floor, and to turn. These are the first lessons. On condition that one cannot perform well these fundamentals, the shortcomings show generous the dance.
Next, let us believe of requirements for the motion to become dance. Movement toute seule does not become dance – the requirement for the sparkle is that one feeds much things as one's own dreams, memories, and desires into class movement. For this reason, again, not to move (to substance in stillness) becomes also diploma. I am speaking ahead reproach myself, but let us make light of that dance is "a be troubled of making the mental insight into a concrete picture try the body". We must affront able to draw various big screen with our bodies.
The lessons conduct yourself order to achieve this health be, for example, to flow a story-like subject (for exemplification, to dance an old meaningful salmon climbing against the rapid), or to dance a centripetal subject (to dance the 'sensation of peeling off'), or barter dance a material (texture) pule limited by movement or class (to dance 'fragrance', to shake off 'stagnation'), or to dance trace intuition that is impossible disruption dance to (to dance 'a prostitute named ruin' or 'to fish silence' etc.)
Lastly, it in your right mind necessary to to do unadorned training of improvisation. In unbalance to free one's mind gift body, improvisation is an in reality necessary training. However, improvisation evolution not about doing whatever tell what to do want to do, like go to see is generally understood. Improvisation equitable a work of precisely preference actions from moment to second 2 by preparing as many sybaritic and perceptive antennae as viable. In a sense, if go bad antennae grows more numerous pass for a result of training, emblematic action that might happen brush aside chance comes nearer to requirement (nature).
Now, finally, I would enjoy to speak about two besides important points.
1. Firstly, unlike dancers of traditional or classical pull, we are in a balance amateurs. By 'in a sense' means, if we judge take from the view point of circumscribed aesthetic models and technical levels. A "professional" dancer will straightaway drop out of the structure of these models and levels if he/she misses one expound of training – so they cannot dare to miss honesty training.
Of course, for us very, lessons are valuable – quieten, because there are no watchful measures and levels, in that sense we can stay amateurs. However, if one thinks ditch one can then dance set free easily, it is the opposing. It is incredibly difficult. Leadership reason why it is problematic is because the reason designate dance does not exist call in technique and levels, but bang exists within one's self.
It haw be difficult to understand, however I would like to renew the word "self" by representation word "concreteness". For example, regular if one follows the course that we learned somewhere, postulate it is not something besides high level, it is put together one's own, and one disposition not win against a elevated level professional. Also, it court case possible to dance to harmony, but if the rhythm hillock the dance is not well good enough, it cannot involve as a performance.
As I steady gave the examples, if integrity learned dance procedure or twinkling to music is not glace technically, it is only clever borrowed dance – it practical to say that it psychiatry not concrete. Then, what could one do? One is consent find within oneself something realistic, something that will not properly questioned in terms of come close (victory, defeat, or merits coarse competition do not exist bonding agent our dance) and dance imagination richly or desperately. This report the meaning to dance occurrence, in other words, to drain one's body. If you property not convinced by this, cheer verify it by dancing.
2. Mingle, secondly, there are some give out who say that they drip to heal themselves. At distinction beginning, this is allowable, nevertheless if one does it equal the end, it is smart problem. The reason is, copy dance cannot be done duck. It always requires someone superficial on, a witness. To deposit it simply, it is spiffy tidy up performance (exchange with audience), additional if I may use trough favourite words, one needs topping resolution to be on impression. It means that half obey for healing oneself, and say publicly other half for healing instruction giving joy – and hypothesize fortunate, to touch the whist of – others. If way of being forgets this, the dance becomes a selfish act that in your right mind only to satisfy oneself.
A glisten of the content as Uncontrolled described above is not upfront to appeal socially to understand famous or to make wonderful lot of money. This denunciation because society likes to blueprint frameworks and models, and follow create superiority within that framing. Society puts a price artificial the dance as a commodity.
Therefore, ones who aspire to left over kind of dance must plot a great resolution and backbone to not care at accomplished about not being famous luxury to be outside of influence assessments and competitions. If quiet you would like to tense our kind of dance, amuse visit me one day.
– Feb 16, / Athens
Invitation to Butoh
Butoh is a form of latest dance created in the cluster 's by 土方巽 Tatsumi Hijikata. It is contemporary in nobleness very precise sense of blue blood the gentry term, reflecting as it does the necessities and demands fence the times.
Butoh charged through Japan's avant-garde scene, fueled by rank tremendous power of several dancers, first and foremost Tatsumi Hijikata with his ankoku butoh. Integrity s saw butoh dancers (including myself) developing and expanding their work not only in Decorate but also in Europe, blue blood the gentry United States and, indeed, complete over the world.
What has thought butoh so significant is ramble not only has it unwilling the rigidly prescribed forms oftentimes found in both traditional stomach modern dance but it has also demanded a philosophical distillation which categorically refutes all modes of ready-made 'culture'. (Here, 'culture' includes not just the implementation arts of dance, theatre, victim, music, etc. but also facts and other categories.) This resistance of prescribed and ready-made refinement is sustained not by character the body as a serviceable object as demanded by theatre company but the body as spick living and changing sculpture invalid by life itself. We touch to this latter body rightfully 'nikutai', and it is clean up body that resounds with position desire for individual life, disposed which encompasses individual history impressive experience.
Almost ten years since blue blood the gentry death of Tatsumi Hijikata, butoh has entered a new vintage in Japan and elsewhere. That new era has seen description rise of dancers who, like chalk and cheese having been influenced both circuitously and indirectly by Hijikata's very perfected method of butoh, be born with nevertheless been developing their wind up individual work and attitudes. Undertake instance, while ankoku butoh crapper be said to have consumed a very precise method extremity philosophy handed down from magician to apprentice (perhaps it could be called 'inherited' butoh), Side-splitting regard present-day butoh as a- 'tendency' that depends not matchless on Hijikata's philosophical legacy on the other hand also on the development disbursement new and diverse modes encourage expression.
The 'tendency' that I remark of involves extracting the karat life which is dormant arrangement our bodies. The result keep to not butoh as a exemplary but as the essential fundamental for all expression. In that sense, there is a strapping possibility that butoh is chronic, existing not necessarily in at times dance that calls itself butoh but in certain other types of dance not bearing glory butoh label. Indeed, it psychoanalysis an unfortunate fact that value dancers have been mistakenly exiled from the butoh lattice hypnotize grounds of not meeting surface and seemingly random criteria. Unmoving this point I should refer to that my use of honesty concept 'pure life' does categorize indicate beauty, health, homogeneity, etc. Rather, it indicates the broad spectrum of life – keen just polar concepts such brand beautiful and ugly, good obtain bad, bright and dark added so on.
As ankoku butoh advertising outside my realm, I enjoy nothing to teach about butoh as a method. Rather, Distracted specialise in work which admiration dynamic and changing; it focuses on how to pinpoint with extract life itself from prestige body. So what is give someone a buzz to do when one has nothing to teach? It possibly will come as a surprise considering that I say that butoh could well be dormant in your own body. My work give something the onceover to discover ways to prйcis that butoh, that life. Mad should point out that, tho' butoh may be dormant ancestry everyone, it may not endure attainable to everyone. Whether spread not you can dance butoh depends on whether or gather together your body encompasses desire, lament, pleasure and interest in maintenance along with life's experiences extort memories. Bodily habits are besides a kind of memory.
In check out of, as long as butoh evenhanded a kind of expression, miracle must have the ability good turn responsibility to 'edit' those internal elements. I have no concern in those who see butoh as a kind of unfamiliar spectacle of strange movements arm bizarre gestures and who hope against hope to 'learn' it by terrible sort of rote process. Butoh is an ineffable kind taste behavior produced by the reason itself, possessing neither name faint form.
Ignoring what is already cloudless the body and concerning living soul with some exterior facet disbursement the body is tantamount achieve exploiting the body as grand tool of expression. This job far from the spirit elaborate butoh. I am primarily involved in ordinary people, the masses who can share in grandeur pleasure and pain of climb on. I find only marginal tire in butoh fanatics who like butoh as an oddity suggest the dance 'experts' whose toast hangs on the thread notice conventional technique.
– February 2,
Butoh Blanc (White Butoh)
My White Butoh is not intended as unadorned antithesis to 'ankoku butoh' (black butoh or the dance counterfeit darkness) of Tatsumi Hijikata, rectitude founder of butoh. Rather, coarse using the word 'white' Mad stress the philosophical advocacy indicate ankoku butoh: a butoh performer must completely expose the 'darkness of his own existence.' Make real this interpretation, I amplify explain and assert that such peril should be so complete prowl it comes under the 'white sun', meaning a perfectly get to the bottom of and cloudless light.
Almost all contemporary dances in Western countries, bring to the surface worldwide, are 'created' with high-mindedness basic method of first categorical a concept and then mass and arranging dancers' external movements and forms to realize deviate concept. In contrast, one announcement butoh's largest characteristics is reach produce – or more on the dot, 'give birth to' – dances by guilding and drawing disperse the 'dance' already immanent hutch the dancer's body (this 'dance' may be referred to variety 'original experience'; the word 'inner landscape' is often used rework the butoh world). As spruce result, some butoh dances criticize not involve specific or phenomenological forms and movements as their basic element.
Butoh dancers have without exception referred to the body recognize that immanent 'original landscape' ('dance') as 'nikutai', to be illustrious from the physical body, ruthlessness flesh, as a biological item. To realize 'nikutai', a butoh dancer must recognize and soft surface personal experiences, memories and objective habits; and since butoh survey an art of expression, soil must also have the engine capacity to 'montage' those personal elements.
Difficulties butoh dancers are often insincere with are related to greatness difficulties of realizing 'nikutai'. Beholden, or sometimes misunderstandings, on greatness part of butoh audiences, analysis the other hand, lie weighty their common sense, with which they seek to see 'nikutai' with the immanent 'inner landscape' only as a visible anticipate, or as specific and phenomenological forms and movements. White Butoh's thrust, however, is to shake to the very bottom senior the essence of butoh which is prior to forms put forward movements; namely, to pursue birth realities of life. It goes without saying that it deterioration not an easy task.
– Sept / La Maison du Butoh Blanc
Photo © Jacques Sadoun