"DANZA" August-September 2006 Tokyo MDE

"Ko Murobushi solo, quick silver -a Gray Flash Runs" by Tatsuro Ishii

Butoh has attracted great interest in the foreign dance world far beyond our imaginaition. In cities of but not limited to North and South America, Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, Finland, Israel, Indonesia, and Korea, performances and festivals of Butoh have taken place, and people eager to learn Butoh visit Japan. Last year, a large-scale Butoh festival was held in the National Theater of Korea. Today, Butoh is an international word. Butoh has built a history of 40 or so years since the genius Tatsumi Hijikata created it; however, today, there are few performance that truly impress. It is because superficial techniques and styles tend to take precedence. Under these circumstances, Ko Murobushi addresses Butoh head-on with all of his mind and body. This kind of Butoh dancer is rare.

Appearing in a black hat and a black coat, Murobushi was filled with a gushing tension down to the fingertips. When he faded in from a blackout, he was a naked body that gave off a dull light in the dim light, and he rolled around the floor as if a dying worm. At the finale, in the thunderous noise, he scattered sand on an aluminum board and obsessively repeated the action of falling violently. The materialized body continued to emit shocks like flashes.

Quick silver gives the impression that Murobushi has, in his own way, firmly engraved how he has been maturing the seeds sown by Hijikata. Butoh is a ceaseless descent into what the Western aesthetics of dance has overlooked. We should keep a close eye on Murobushi who continues on an endless, wonderful descent.

(Azabu die pratze, June 9, 2006.)