{"id":281,"date":"2017-02-02T11:16:55","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T18:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/ccc\/?page_id=281"},"modified":"2017-06-28T17:44:16","modified_gmt":"2017-06-29T00:44:16","slug":"butoh-the-intercultural-embodiment-of-opposition-lorena-macias","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/ccc\/artsculture\/butoh-the-intercultural-embodiment-of-opposition-lorena-macias\/","title":{"rendered":"Butoh: The Intercultural Embodiment of Opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"
Butoh dancer Minako Seki wears the costume of white body paint often seen in Butoh performances. (Credit: Redefine Mag<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lorena Macias<\/h2>\n

The turmoil and loss of Japanese identity following World War II led Tatsumi Hijikata and collaborator Kazuo Ohno to reexamine their culture and create a Japanese modern dance. Hijikata and his collaborators adopted Ankoku Butoh, or \u2018dance of darkness\u2019 that reflected the depression and devastation that he and other artists experienced. Butoh\u2019s origins were framed by an ideological crisis; however, despite the trauma that enveloped Japanese citizens and artists, Butoh emerged as an embodied resistance to not only western materialism, but to the general conflicted social order that capitalizes on abled bodies.<\/span><\/p>\n

I will explore the origins of Butoh; its history frames its motives as an embodied\u00a0art form of resistance and resilience. I will then emphasize certain characteristics of Butoh to offer an in-depth comprehension of its intentional and non-conventional expressions. Particular\u00a0performances will then be discussed as case studies for examining Butoh in its oppositional practice. This investigation of Butoh will conclude with an addressing of its recent commodification. I will highlight the importance of performing art as a tool for social change and societal examination.<\/span>
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World War II\u2019s Effects on Japanese Art<\/b><\/h1>\n

U.S. expansion began across the North American continent, fueled by economic considerations and belief in Manifest Destiny. It also inspired U.S.\u00a0merchants and missionaries to journey across the Pacific Ocean. Interests shifted to Japan when, through the military pressure of U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew Perry, the country opened its ports to western navies on March 31, 1854 after a long period of isolation. Following several trade agreements with other nations, including Russia, Great Britain, the U.S., and France, Japan then opened its borders to foreigners in 1868. Inevitably, \u201cas art exited Japan, Western influences also entered\u201d (Chong 2012, p. 30). Thus, effects of the West were felt in Japan long before the end of World War II in 1945.<\/span><\/p>\n

The devastation of World War II included a purge of Japanese history, \u201ca beginning of absolute nothingness\u201d (Munroe, 22). Not since World War II has Japan faced such an identity crisis in response to the weakening of traditional communal values. Following the war, there was great anxiety surrounding the seeming disappearance of Japanese tradition. The concern of the status of humanity also ran parallel to this anxiety, as \u201cimages of disfigured bodies and corpses\u201d began to appear in multitudes in Japanese art, \u201cmirroring the vulnerable state of human beings in and after the war\u201d (Chong, 26).<\/span><\/p>\n