Events

Kazuo Ohno's solo, directed by Tatsumi Hijikata. It premiered in November 1977 at Tokyo's Daiichi Seimei Hall, and until 1994 was performed 119 times in venues all over the world. 'La Argentina' refers to Antonia Mercé y Luque, widely regarded an innovator of Spanish dance, who greatly inspired Ohno when he saw her perform at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo in 1929. Two audio recordings of La Argentina playing the castanets were gifted to Ohno by her relatives, and became incorporated into this piece as of his Europe tour in 1980.

The opening scene, in which a spotlit Kazuo Ohno rose out of the audience as Divine (from Jean Genet's Notre Dame des Fleurs) to the sound of Bach's Toccata and Fugue, made a huge impact both in Japan and aboard.

From the New York 1981 programme:
Death and Birth
Daily Bread
Marriage of Heaven and Earth
With Tango
Finale With Thanks

Related:
The 1981 program for the premiere of 'My Mother' included an essay by Kazuo Ohno entitled 'Encounter with La Argentina'. La Argentina was also mentioned in the performance invitation.