Bruce Baird

Bruce Baird (USA) received his B.A. from Columbia University and his Ph.D. in Japanese language and literature from the University of Pennsylvania.

His book Hijikata Tatsumi and Butoh: Dancing in a Pool of Gray Grits (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) is a lively examination of the formation of the dance form butoh—one of the most important dance forms of the 20th century. In it, Baird argues that butoh should be seen as a bodily response to the conflicts in Japan in the 1960s-1980s and as an embodiment of the information age. This book was nominated for the 2012-2013 biannual International Convention of Asian Scholars Book Prize.

He is currently working on a broader history of butoh, which will examine how the art changed and evolved as it spread beyond Tokyo to the world. He is the recipient of two Fulbright Fellowships.