Julie Bilsland & Morgan Stinson

Week 7 Discussion
A.
Piercing the Mask of Japanese Dance Theatre
This article was about the four different forms of Japanese dance, Butoh, Kabuki,
Noh, and Buhaku. All four of these dances are still performed somewhere in the world in
some way. These four dances are similar because all of them include slow movements
that turn into fast sharp movements. Also all are danced with a mask to represent active
and emotional face expressions. In Bugaku, Noh, and Kabuki character is represented by
the costumes and movement style that they portray when they are dancing. Although the
movements are recognized through these dances Butoh is a little different than the other
three. This article did not go into as much detail about it as the second article, but what
we do know is that butoh is performed outdoors and in non-traditional spaces. Bugaku,
which started as a dance for imperial courts, can now be viewed on special occasions in
Japan. Noh and Kabuki dances are adopted by families and still danced today as a hobby.
Another difference that Butoh has from the other dances is that it can be danced by mixed
genders and the other three dances are specifically males. Training for Butoh starts later
in life for people and for the other three training starts as a young child.

Butoh: Twenty Years Ago We Were Crazy, Dirty, and Mad

This article goes in depth about the characteristics and history of Japanese Butoh
Dance. It states that bu means dance and toh means step. The article describes Butoh

as being shocking, provocative, physical, spiritual, erotic, grotesque, and violent. This
style of dance emphasizes facial expressions and focuses on the emotion of the story. The
dancers are painted completely white and are either fully or partially nude. The
movements of Butoh are slow and strong. It is an anti-traditional Japanese dance form
with the purpose of erasing the imprint of Japans strict society and offer freedom of
artistic expression. It emerged during the time of recovery from the bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII and was intended to show the horrors of the
effects the bombs had on Japan. It was a dance form that wasnt accepted until it left
Japan and was accepted by western culture where it then returned to Japan. The article
said that this process is referred to as gyakuyunyu, which means, go out and come
back. The article described many of the first dancers of Butoh. One of the first and most
significant dancers and choreographers of Butoh was Hijakata who wanted to reveal the
dark truths of deformity and insanity of Japanese culture. He is given a lot of credit in
shaping Butoh into the form it has become. This article has great information on all the
details of Butoh dance and its history.

B.
Piercing the Mask of Japanese Dance Theatre
This topic is hard to relate to because it is outside of our culture. We had
personally never heard of any of these types of dances before doing these reading and
still get some of the words confused. A way that we do see us connecting with these types
of dance is through the history. We have learned about the imperial courts through history
classes that we have taken and some of the dances were being founded when world wars

were going on so I think that is a way that we can connect with them. For example Butoh
was created after World War 2 because they wanted to erase the heavy imprint of Japans
strict society. We could look at that war and ask ourselves how it might have impacted
people to create dances such as this one and relate them to dances that we have seen in
todays society.

Butoh: Twenty Years Ago We Were Crazy, Dirty, and Mad

We find the information in this reading hard to relate to because it is out of our
culture and perspective. Butoh dance is not something that we were familiar with prior to
taking this course. It is a more abstract dance form than we are used to seeing. However,
the fact that it emerged from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is relatable. We
have learned about WWII in school for years and this is an event that was widely
discussed. However, learning about Butoh and seeing the perspective of the event from
the Japanese point of view has really taught us a lot and opened our minds a little more.
Another event we could possibly relate this to is 9/11. This was a very traumatic event
with many tragedies similar to those of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We can help relate this
reading to our discussion groups lives by having them think about the messages that
Butoh dance tries to portray about the atomic bombs. We can help them to relate their
feelings about 9/11 to the feelings of the Japanese citizens that were effected by
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

C.

Since all of these dances relate to Japanese forms, why do you think that they

view masks and make up differently?

What makes Japanese Dance Theater difficult for Americans to comprehend,

especially Butoh?
What quality of any of the four Japanese dance forms discussed in this chapter

appeals the most to you?

Which quality is most quirky or unique to you?
What are some different words you can think of to describe Butoh?
What event does Butoh dance derive from?
Do you think Butoh will be a dance form that will last as long as other Japanese

forms have? Why or why not?

If you had to guess, why do you think Butoh dancers are painted white and dance

nude?
When you watch a Butoh dance, such as the one we watched earlier, what are

some thoughts that came to your head?

Why do you think that Butoh dancers focus so much on their facial expressions?

D.
Piercing the Mask of Japanese Dance Theatre
This article to us was an easy read. Some of the difficulties that we did have
though were all of the unfamiliar words. There were a lot of Japanese words that us and
most of the readers wouldnt recognize. The things that we did to help with that were to
write down all the words that we werent sure about down and then look them up after we
read the whole article. Also another challenge that we faced was remembering which
dance went with which decade and how they originated. It was a lot of history to

remember and we lack history skills. For this we just made a table and wrote a little
description of each dance underneath.

Butoh: Twenty Years Ago We Were Crazy, Dirty, and Mad

This reading was not terribly difficult. It was very short and the language wasnt
too advanced. However, there were a few challenges as there typically are with scholarly
articles. One thing that we found hard was all of the Japanese words in this reading.
Pronouncing them was difficult for us and we wouldnt know what they meant if it didnt
state it in the text. Some of the sentences were also very upper-level reading.

Some suggestions we have for getting through a tougher reading is to first look at
all the subtitles. This will give you an idea of what each section will be about. Secondly,
look up any words you dont know and replace them with a synonym. A final suggestion
is to come up with a sentence or two summarizing each paragraph that you read. Write
them down and you will have a list of notes that summarize the whole article.

E.
Piercing the Mask of Japanese Dance Theatre

Bugaku- Japanese traditional dance that has been performed to select elites

mostly in Japanese imperial courts for over 1,200 years

Noh- classic Japanese dance drama having a heroic theme, a chorus, and highly

stylized action, costuming, and scenery

Kabuki- activity or drama carried out in real life in a predictable or stylized
fashion

Butoh- dance theatre that encompasses a diverse range of activities, techniques

and motivations for performance and movements

Butoh: Twenty Years Ago We Were Crazy, Dirty, and Mad

Gyakuyunyu: go out and come back

Nihilistic: the belief that traditional morals, ideas, beliefs, etc., have no worth or

value
Cathartic: providing psychological relief through the open expression of strong

emotions; causing catharsis.

Ambiguous: open to or having several possible meanings or interpretations

These are some of the terms that we found were difficult in each reading. We can help
our group members understand them by explaining their definitions in words that are
simple to understand and by providing an example of a situation where the word could be
used.

F.
This was overall a good discussion. When we first got this topic we were a little
disappointed because it was very far out of our culture but in the end it went very well.
We began by discussing the first reading, Piercing the Mask of Japanese Dance
Theatre. For the most part everyone was engaging in the conversation but there were
times that people didnt want to talk and I had to answer my own questions. I waited a

while for each question and asked for different opinions, which got people talking a little
bit, more. There was no one in our group that had ever seen or performed Japanese dance
before this class so it was new information to everyone. We showed a video of each style
of dance and people didnt really have any opinion on them. I asked the question what
makes Japanese Dance Theater difficult for Americans to comprehend, especially Butoh.
I found these responses interesting because I hadnt thought about it until the group
members mentioned it. Someone said that it is weird to us because no one in America
really dances almost naked. Also that we dont really view dancing the way that the
Japanese do in these forms. Someone said that Japanese dances could be folk dances.
This was contradicted though because we dont know the history behind them so it would
be very difficult for us to do them. At the end of the Tuesday reading discussion we asked
What quality of any of the four Japanese dance forms discussed in this chapter appeals
the most to you? We got a really interesting response out of this question that stuck our
minds. One of the group members said that they found Kabuki the most interesting
because it reminded her of the movie Mulan. She said that in the video we showed the
face makeup reminded her of the same face makeup in the movie. Also that some of the
movements and dances were the same. By this she meant that there were slow
movements and by having a lot of face makeup on the story was better portrayed. This
was interesting because it is just a way that we can relate Japanese dance to our own
culture. Overall this was a good discussion to lead. We got to teach a lot to the audience
and we got to learn a lot from them through the questions. The main thing that we
concluded when the discussion was over was that almost everyone in the group liked the
dance Kabuki the best and thought that Butoh was the strangest dance we talked about.

Discussing the second article, Butoh: Twenty Years Ago We Were Crazy, Dirty,
and Mad, went very smoothly. We discussed a lot of the history of Butoh such as when it
emerged, what events it emerged from (Hiroshima and Nagasaki), and who was the main
contributor to the dance form that was discussed in the reading (Hijakata). We then
discussed the meaning of the words bu (dance) and toh (step). We discussed how
Butoh is a very anti-traditional Japanese dance form that went through the process of
gyakuyunyu, which means, go out and come back. This dance form was not accepted in
Japan until it was accepted by western culture. We decided that this was a weird fact to
hear because we were all unfamiliar with Butoh and felt like it hadnt really been that
accepted in American culture. We watched a short clip of a Butoh performance when we
discussed the other article. I asked our group to tell us some of the descriptive words that
came to their head while watching the performance. Some of these words included weird,
demon-like, dramatic, powerful, and plain violent looking. This then lead on to the topic
of whether we can relate to this dance or not. We determined once again that we were
outside of this Japanese dance culture and have a hard time relating. I then asked our
group if they could think of any abstract ways that we could relate to Butoh. No one had
any answer to this question so I jumped in and explained that we can relate through
history. We as Americans know what it feels like to have our country attacked
specifically through Pearl Harbor and 9/11. We know the horrors of the events and it is
the same when speaking about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was the only way that we
concluded we could possibly relate to this style of dance. From here, I asked the group
whether or not they think that Butoh will last as long as some of the other Japanese
dances as they have been around for centuries. Most of our group determined that it will

be around a long time because of the historical meaning behind it, which I thought was a
great point. Overall, our group participated well and we thought we had a great
discussion about this weeks readings.

G.
Names of people that participated:
Havanna- 4/4
Natalie- 4/4
Beth- 4/4
Stephanie- 4/4
Jalen- 4/4
Mckayla- 4/4
Imani- 4/4
Angelica- 4/4
Brock- 4/4
If their names are not on this list then they did not come to class or they did not
participate in the discussion.