Hijikata and the Future Generations

During this conversation, researcher Bruce Baird, dramaturge Sara Jansen and dancer Takao Kawaguchi will talk about Tatstumi Hijikata’s legacy. How did other butoh artists from his time see his work, and how does he continue to influence the current generation of dancers and makers? What is the future of butoh, and who is shaping it?

Tatsumi Hijikata is one of the pioneers of butoh. Butoh focussed on the expression of the Japanese body and based its movement idiom on the lives of common people: the connection with nature, prayer, sleeping on a futon, working the land. It’s all about raw corporeality and emotion — uncovering deeper layers, in the dancer and audience alike. In 1962, Hijikata formed Asbestos Hall in Tokyo, which would go on to be a legendary meeting place for avant-garde artists from all disciplines for over twenty years.

Speakers

Bruce Baird took his BA at Columbia University and his PhD in Japanese language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania. His book Hijikata Tatsumi and Butoh: Dancing in a Pool of Gray Grits explores the rise of butoh, one of the most important dance forms of the 20th century. The book was nominated for the 2012-2013 International Convention of Asian Scholars Book Prize. Baird is currently working on a broader history of butoh, with a focus on how the artform spread and evolved outside Tokyo. He was granted two Fulbright Fellowships for his research.

Sara Jansen is a dance scholar and dramaturge in Brussels who has degrees in Japanese Studies and Performance Studies from NYU. She is currently completing a study on choreography and the politics of time within the context of the post-war Japanese avant-garde. Sara writes about performance and has translated work by Japanese playwrights like Oriza Hirata, Toshiki Okada and Takeshi Kawamura. She was a dramaturge for Trajal Harrells Caen Amour (2016) and has worked with artists including Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker/Rosas and Heine Avdal & Yukiko Shinozaki/fieldworks.

Researcher Bruce Baird and dramaturge Sara Jansen, amongst others, on Tatsumi.

Takao Kawaguchi started his career studying mime, a form of movement theatre based on pantomime. This background formed the basis of his career as an artist. Kawaguchi has worked on a wide range of projects at the intersection of experimental theatre, dance and performance art, in which he used his body as the main medium. He was part of the renowned Japanese performance collective Dumb Type from 1996 to 2008, and went on to further develop his solo career from 2000 on.