Sankai Juku

Sankai Juku is a famous butoh dance troupe from Japan. Amagatsu is the group’s director, choreographer and designer. He studied classical dance as well as modern dance before he developed his own “second-generation” Butoh style.Butoh is originated from the Japanese avant-garde of the 1960s, a period when World War II was ended, Japan suffered from the lingering effects of the atomic bomb detonations at Hiroshima and Nagasak. Butoh means "dance of darkness," the medium created a space for the intensely grotesque and perverse on the stage.Sankai Juku’s performers all have shaved heads and bodies. They are covered in white rice powder. Sometimes they may be costumed, partially costumed, or unclothed. Rather than wearing typical “street” clothing onstage, they sometimes wear long skirt-like costumes.Amagatsu explains that while "butoh is a dialogue with the gravity," other dance forms tend to revel in escape from gravity. But his dancing movements, in contrast, are based on "sympathizing or synchronizing" with gravity.
Here are some photos about the performance and Sankai Juku is going to perform on Oct. 20 at Chicago Harris Theater.






pictures are from sankaijuku's website: http://www.sankaijuku.com/index.htm