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The Genesis of Butoh, William Klein's Tokyo

05'16"
 

 

 
 
A glimpse into the history of dance through archived footage
 
A commentary on the convergence of energies between early Butoh and the city of Tokyo in the run up to the Olympics, told through photographs of a street performance with Tatsumi Hijikata, Kazuo Ohno and Yoshito Ohno taken by William Klein when he visited to Tokyo in 1961.
 

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William Klein (1928~)
Born and raised in New York, Klein studied painting with Fernand Léger in Paris, and began actively experimenting with photographic techniques in 1952. In 1956 he published his first photo book of his hometown New York, before publishing numerous other photo books of the world's largest cities. Breaking with convention of the time, he made use of wide-angle lenses, focus on texture, intense contrast and unorthodox composition, and has been a great impact on the subsequent generations.
 
Tatsumi Hijikata (1928~1986)
The founder of Butoh. While studying German modern dance, jazz, ballet etc., he began to form his own style influenced by French art and literature. In May 1959 he presented Kinjiki, which became known as the first Butoh performance. He led the way in avant-garde and experimental underground culture throughout the 1960s and 70s, collaborating with other cultural pioneers of the time, laying the foundations for Butoh.
 
 

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Planning/Direction/Script: Toshio Mizohata
Video production: Masakazu Saito
 
Photographers: William Klein, Eikoh Hosoe, Naoya Ikegami, Hirao Endo
 
Photograph retouching: Nobutaka Kitakaze (Young Soul)
Music: Satsuki Hoshino
Narrator: Takao Kawaguchi
Subtitle translation: John Barrett
 
© William Klein, Tokyo 1961
© NPO Dance Archive Network, 2020