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| [ Choreograph
on their own ] |
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Before
forming Shinonome Butoh, they practiced under Yukio Waguri. Waguri's
choreographical method was to embody images through words, and the
dancers tried to express the images with their bodies. The description
of images were based on Hijikata's "butoh-fu" (fu means notes), which
he had written when he focused on choreography in 1970s and onwards.
Dance is composed in a way similar to making sentences with vocabulary.
Hijikata chose paintings and poems/sentences from all over the world,
which he wanted to use as images for butoh dance. He named each image
and the original work that he quoted, and taught his students sets
of such vocabulary and meanings. In this way, the dancers could share
subtle nuances on a nerve level as well as a sense of extended space
behind their backs. |
| Waguri
was one of the main dancers who embodied Hijikata's "butoh-fu" while
they were completed. Later Waguri formed his own dance company Kozensha
and used the notes as he choreographed. The Shinonome dancers practiced
on this method for seven to eight years and shared the same physical
language. That is why they can choreograph themselves as equals, which
assures them of mutual relationships rather than having someone lead
others. First, the world is set up as a scene, and it is shared with
each other through words. That is the basic understanding among the
three, and then comes choreography. It is different from a group dance,
which is put together from external factors such as form and timing,
or free improvisation, the result of which depends on coincidence.
The Shinonome's choreographical method is the key to their utmost
characteristic that individual dancer's unique quality is prioritized
while they all share the same world. |
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