Butoh: Body on the Edge of Crisis

Butoh: Body on the Edge of Crisis

1990 · 90 min · ★ 8.0 · Documentary

"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.

Directed by Michael Blackwood · Written by Lynn Piasecki

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Cast

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
Ushio Amagatsu
Yoshiyuki Takada

Make it a double feature

2h 28m together

Butoh: Body on the Edge of Crisis

Louis Kahn: Silence and Light

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