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By
Jenny Enarsson
The
Butoh dance form
The
experimental dance form Butoh was born in Japan in the 1960’s.
Read
our background feature
on
The If Path. |
It
contrasts with most Western dance in that it has no canon of movement
or technique and it does not strive to be conventionally beautiful.
In
fact, at times it is both grotesque and scary.
'The
If Path'
Café Reason Butoh Dance Theatre performed their latest production
‘The If Path’ at the Pegasus Theatre.
Sometimes
funny and sometimes sad, The If Path takes the audience on a journey
of confrontation as it crosses physical, emotional and spatial boundaries.
The
production is an allegory for life’s uncertain progress and the
paralysing dilemma of choice.
A
total of eight dancers – five female and three male – guide us up
and down this path, their faces at times blank and then exceedingly
expressive.
Sometimes
the dancers hide their facial features behind masks; sometimes they
stare right at us and stick their tongues out. There are solos,
duets and ensemble pieces. There are times when it seems as if each
dancer is doing their own thing until suddenly they all come together
in the same choreography.
The
dancers’ whitened bodies challenge our perceptions of what dance
can be. Ironically, the refreshing "anti-aesthetic" of Butoh offers
moments of breathtaking beauty. More than that, it provokes the
audience to think about the issues raised, and maybe cross some
boundaries of their own.
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