25/4/2002
Curious Fish
Mobius, Boston
Mobius presents "Curious Fish" with Katsura Kan and the Saltimbangues directed and choreographed by Katsura Kan.
Butoh Dance/Performance Art/Butoh Workshop
April 2002
Mobius presents "Curious Fish" with Katsura Kan and the Saltimbangues directed and choreographed by Katsura Kan.
Performances: Friday-Sunday, April 26 - April 28 at 8 pm;
Workshop: Tuesday-Saturday, April 23 - April 27 from 10 am -1 pm
World-renowned Japanese Butoh artist, Katsura Kan, reveals his
"Curious Fish" to the East Coast. This Boston premiere was originally
created for the 2001Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it received
several five star reviews.
Kan's approach is inspired by classical
Akoku Butoh otherwise known as the "dance of utter darkness." He
reverses roles where men are women and visa versa, who then transform
into chickens to flowers to frogs that frighten a ballerina. In the
midst of all is Kan, a ghost-like figure, marking time and burning
himself into your retina. He projects the sensation that he is
something before human--a kind of fish or mineral. He awaits "the
tears then climbs the rainbow." Kan's work exudes a dark humor that
combines whirling images, handled delicately then powerfully. The
result is an electrifying event that is both funny and terrifying. As
Diane Dubois from the Scotsman wrote: "I laughed, got scared, and
laughed some more.
This bunch can turn hilarity and terror on and off
like a light." The Saltimbangues troupe in Boston includes dancers
Malinda Allen, Nathan Andary, Mineko Aoyama, Jim Banta, Deborah
Butler, Dan Davis, Ellen Godena, Jennifer Hicks, Grant Hicks, Dillon
Paul; lighting by Nicole Hachey; sound by John de Gregorio
(Workshop Info.) While in residence at Mobius, Kan will also hold a
5-day Butoh workshop. It will center on "the idea for your body in
tradition," meaning putting one's body in the context of one's "aura
region." He believes that Butoh is "capable of breaking through our
conscious barriers and reaching our precognitive identity, which we
all hold deep within us." With all due respect to pioneer Butoh
dancer Tatsumi Hijikata, Kan's strategy is to develop a form of Butoh
that exists beyond Japan. Knowledge and respect for tradition should
also create doubt, which is essential to creating a Butoh reality in
one's own backyard. Kan believes that rooting tradition in different
soil should allow for a new type of flower to grow. With this
philosophy as the intellectual premise of the workshop, Kan will
integrate various physical states of being: stillness, rhythmic
patterns, improvisation, and explorations of range of movement
qualities.
(Principal Bio.) Katsura Kan graduated from Buddhism University in
the Japanese Literature Department (Kyoto) and studied Noguchi
gymnastics and Noh Theater with master Hirota Yukitoshi (Kongo
School). In 1983, Katsura Kan founded the Saltimbanques, a dance
troupe with some twenty core members, whose purpose is the free
interpolation of diverse genres. In 1992, he founded another group,
Harvesting Beauty in the Field, who performed for several years at
theaters, galleries and festivals throughout Japan and Indonesia.
With each of these groups, Kan has developed his own original Butoh
method to instruct dancers and create contemporary dances. He has
been a recipient of multiple grants from the Japan Foundation and
worked on numerous collaboration projects with Indonesian and Asian
artists. For six months in 1996 in Kyoto, Singapore and Bangkok, Kan
undertook a challenging experimental training project with various
artists and researchers from such disciplines as visual arts, music,
performance art, computer art, architecture, drama training, Thai
Traditional Martial Arts and Kabuki. The goal of the project was to
deepen the concepts and methods of Asian contemporary art making
without Western influences. In addition to his extensive performance
career in Asia, Katsura Kan has taught and performed in Israel,
Egypt, Switzerland, France, Croatia, Scotland and Australia. He has
been teaching and performing at the San Francisco Butoh Festival
since 1998. His recent projects include a multimedia production in
Corsica for Rencontre Theatralese International de Haute Corse based
on the Mahabharata, and a 5-star award winning production of his
"Curious Fish" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2001.
Tickets:
for Performance: $15/ $12 students, seniors and Friends of Mobius;
for Workshop $200. Reservations strongly recommended; please call
Mobius at 617.542.7416
Mobius
Boston's Artist-Run Center for Experimental Work in All Media
354 Congress St. Boston, MA 02210
phone: 617-542-7416 fax: 617-451-2910