慶應義塾大学アート・センター　Keio University Art Center

Nakajima Natsu Butoh Performance "Like Smoke Like Ash"

The Japanese characters for ‘smoke’ （煙） and ‘ash’（灰）, both contain the character of ‘fire’（火）. It is as though they etymologically recall their material origin in fire, and visually indicate themselves as the next stage of transformation in the ‘life of fire.’ Hijikata would often tell his disciples to become ‘disappearing things, appearing things.’ ‘Disappearance,’ for him, meant more than simple self-erasure; it contained the element of something else. This structure of containment, with one thing harboring the possibility of another, might be termed a kind of ‘compound.’ Just like the ‘charcoal’ （火種） hidden in the embers of a dying fire. This is the way I learned to live and dance from Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo;  it is the way I have danced my entire life. In the brief encounter of one night, a lasting message might be fleetingly passed from an old generation to a new, like the ‘life’ of a firework in the early evening. With this dance, I pray and pass a flower to those who have already gone. 

Spring 2014, Nakajima Natsu

Date

Wednesday 16 April 2014, 18:15-

Venue

Keio University Hiyoshi Campus Raio-sha

Audience

Open to everyone

Cost

Free

Enquiries and bookings

Keio University Art Center
tel. 03‒5427‒1621 fax. 03‒5427‒1620

Performance［新入生歓迎行事］

Date

Wednesday 16 April 2014, 18:15 (doors open: 17:30)

Venue

Keio University Hiyoshi Campus Raio-sha
4-1-1, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama; Tokyu-Toyoko Line Hiyoshi station

Audience

Open to everyone

Cost

Free

Booking

No booking required

Lecturer/Performer

Nakajima Natsu and Muteki-sha

Staff
Sound and Lighting Design Soga Masaru
Stage Management Tokame Shunosuke
Choreography and Direction Nakajima Natsu

With thanks to all who have made this possible, in particular the participants of 'Class for the Mind and Body.'

NAKAJIMA NATSU has been one of the most prominent figures in butoh dance since its foundation in Tokyo in the 1960s. Training under both Hijikata Tatsumi and Kazuo Ohno, Nakajima went on to establish her own dance company, Muteki-sha, in 1969, with whom she has been performing and choreographing internationally since the early 1980s. Her highly acclaimed performance of ‘Niwa’ at LIFT ‘83 (London) marked the beginning of this international touring career, and led to performances worldwide. She has also won prizes for her choreographic work in Mexico and Canada, including first prize at the Canada Dance Festival for her choreography of Ghost Stories in 1990. In addition to her performance and choreographic work, Nakajima has over thirty years of experience as a teacher, and has been one of the forerunners of dance for the disabled in Japan.

Enquiries and bookings

Keio University Art Center
tel. 03‒5427‒1621 fax. 03‒5427‒1620

Organiser(s)

主催=慶應義塾大学アート・センター｜慶應義塾大学教養研究センター日吉行事企画委員会（HAPP）
協力=NPO 法人舞踏創造資源｜ポートフォリオBUTOH｜慶應義塾大学デジタルメディア・コンテンツ統合研究センター

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