Butoh as Heard by a Dancer

A Monograph by Dominique Savitri Bonarjee

published by Routledge Advances in Theatre and Performance Studies, 2024

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The first edition is 18 x 24 cm, 294 pages, with photos and illustrations, in a hardback book. Also available as Ebook.

The book is available at the following links:

Routledge with promo code BHD24, valid until 31/12/2024.

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This monograph explores the origins of Butoh in post-war Japan through orality and transmission, in conjunction with an embodied research approach.

This book is a volume of 'direct transmissions' of Butoh's legacy through the words and thoughts of ten seminal Butoh voices – Yoshito Ohno, Natsu Nakajima, Yukio Waguri, Moe Yamamoto, Masaki Iwana, Ko Murobushi, Yukio Suzuki, Takao Kawaguchi, Yuko Kaseki, and the philosopher, Kuniichi Uno. These conversations happened during an extended research trip the author made to Japan, wanting to understand the context and circumstances that engendered Butoh. Alongside these exchanges are the authors's reflections on Butoh’s complex history as she explores what she learns through her movement and art practice. Rather than a theoretical analysis, this book shares the ancient form of pedagogy of proximity between teacher and student. Through these rich exchanges, she grasps Butoh’s tendency to evade categorization, concluding that Butoh’s artistic legacy of bodily rebellion, plurality of authorship, and fluidity of form seems prescient and feels more relevant in contemporary times than ever before.