Japanese Theater Week 9 Reading Questions Klein, "Ankoku Butô: The Premodern and Postmodern Influences on the Dance of Utter Darkness" Ch. 1 (1-23 ), Ch. 2 (24-54) You should be able to recognize the following names: Hijikata Tatsumi, Ohno Kazuo, and Ohno Yoshito; we'll be seeing dances performed by them as well as Ashikawa Yoko, Dairakudakan (Big Camel Battleship), Tanaka Min, Byakko-sha (Ohsuga Isamu and Hiruta Sanae), Nakajima Natsu, Sankaijuku and others. Be able to recognize the following terms: kata (movement patterns), shiori kata (the “crying” gesture in Noh), jô-ha-kyû (pacing in Noh), kawara mono (riverside beggars), ganimata (bow-legged crouch), beshimi kata (grimace, taken from the beshimi mask in Noh). Note that some of these questions are general, with answers found at several places in the reading. 1. In the late 1950s, early 60s what was the relationship of younger avant-garde theater actors and directors to Shingeki? What did they object to politically? 2. What were some of the goals of the Butoh (AKA Butô) movement begun by Hijikata and Ohno? 3. How did Butoh view Western modern dance and ballet? 4. How did Butoh and the younger theatrical avant-garde view traditional Japanese theater? What did it object to? What did it find appropriate? 5. Pages 16-20 give an overview of theater in the 1960s and Hijikata's influence. See the Concerned Theater Japan Exhibition link for further discussion of some of these groups. 6. Pages 20-23 discuss Butoh as a “postmodern” dance form. Skim. 7. Pages 26-28 discuss Butoh's initial rejection of dance technique (see question #3). Pages 28-30 discuss the application of theories of the grotesque to Butoh's use of grotesque imagery. Skim the latter. 8. How did the 1960s resurgence of interest in folklore studies (founded by the scholar Yanagita Kunio, a friend of Izumi Kyôka and the model for Akira in Demon Pond) influence Butoh and the theatrical avant-garde? How was this “return to Japan” used to “overcome the modern,” including modern individualism? What techniques were used in Butoh to erase individuality? What were the political dangers of this “return”? 9. Pages 34-37 discuss Butoh's appropriation of the marginal status of Edo period Kabuki actors. This will help you answer question #4. 10. Pages 37-end discuss various techniques developed by Hijikata and other Butoh dancers. a. “Metamorphosis Exercise”: What types of characters are chosen most often and why? What effects is the metamorphosis exercise supposed to have on the dancer? (Note that we'll see a couple versions of this in class.) b. “Metempsychosic Model of Time”: How is this form of time different from linear time? Again, what is the effect supposed to be? (Note that we'll be seeing Ohno dance a version of “Admiring La Argentina” in class). How is the aesthetic concept of jô-ha-kyû, borrowed from Noh theater, used in Butoh? c. “White Makeup”: what was the initial reason for using white makeup? How is it different from Kabuki kumadori? What are the visual effects of its use? d. “Beshimi kata”: how is this “grimacing face,” based on the beshimi mask from Noh, used in Butoh? How is it different from the Noh mask and kumadori in Kabuki? What is the effect on the audience? e. “Ganimata”: When was the bowlegged crouch first developed by Hijikata? How is it related to movement in traditional theater? What did Hijikata say he based it on? Again, what are the effects supposed to be on the audience? WEEK 9B: Butoh and Post-shingeki Theater: Ota Shogo's The Water Station (Mizu no Eki) A. The Water Station (Mizu no Eki)
B. Komachi Fuden (Tale of Komachi Told by the Wind, 1977) based on the noh play Komachi on the Stupa (Sotoba Komachi)
Reading Questions on The Water Station: Read Mari Boyd's introductory material (a) and then the playscript (b). The interactive script (c) and image slide show (d) should give you something of a sense of how the play looks in performance. The video clip from Theater in Japan: Yesterday and Today is from Scene 4: Married Couple (p. 17 in the pdf); the same scene is in the full length video from around 14:00. We will also be looking at Komachi Fuden so read the short play synopsis! And review Komachi on the Stupa so you understand what this play is based on. 1. How do these plays appear to reflect modern and post-war Japanese theater influences? Does there seem to be any influence from Butoh? Why or why not? DISCUSSION QUESTION: 1. Reading through the script of The Water Station, as well as images and the video, what influences can you see from traditional Japanese theater (especially Noh) in terms of Ota's interest in achieving "silence, stillness, and open space"? What elements seem to come from (or be similar to) Butoh? Consider the staging, acting, playscript, style and timing of movement (and/or anything else you can think of!). In answering the questions, support your argument with specific images or language from the play.
|