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The Butoh Movement
Butoh is a form of Japanese dance theatre created by Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno in the 1960s. It emerged as a response to the tragedy of WWII and the toll the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings took on Japanese citizens. Hijikata and Ohno felt a loss of Japanese identity during this time and seeked to create a form of indigenous dance that reaffirmed their culture.
Our production uses Butoh-inspired movement, particularly with the three witches.
Butoh was specifically created to reject Western dance styles. Although it is difficult to define, it often explores themes of death, darkness, cultural suppression, and corruption. We incorporated our interpretation of the movement into this production as the witches evoke the concepts of mortality and fragile humanity.
See an example of Butoh here!
Some Photos of The Butoh Movement Rehearsal
The Butoh Movement was choreographed by Andy Edelman, a Junior Musical Theatre Major here at Elon.
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