[Reader-list] AFTER BUTOH- a talk by Daisuke Muto

[rohitrellan at aol.in]

AFTER BUTOH- a talk by Daisuke Muto 



Wed, 21 Aug
6.30 pm

Free Entry

Venue: Zorba the Buddha, 7, Tropical Drive, Near Ghitorni Metro Station, New Delhi- 30

The lecture, "After Butoh" will recount the development of "contemporary dance" in Japan since the late 1980s, with a critical analysis of works by the latest dance-makers in Japan. As in India, Japanese contemporary dance has had no public or institutional support. Rather than creating large scale productions or mesmerizing spectacles, therefore, independent dancers and choreographers have instead chosen to reflect their individual, daily, or mundane lives in human-scale works. Muto will specifically explore the different ideas of corporeality that have emerged from such engagements. The lecture will be accompanied by video screenings.

How different is this from the experience in other Asian countries? Muto’s lecture will be followed by an open discussion about our comparative experiences of “contemporary dance” in different cultures in the last decades.


Daisuke Muto is an independent dance critic, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Aesthetics and Art History, Gunma Prefectural Women's University, teaching aesthetics and dance history/theory. His current research focuses on the global history of modernism in dance in the 20th century as a phenomenon triggered by the encounter of the West and Asia. He is co-author of "History of Ballet and Dance," Heibonsha, 2012 (Japanese), and "Theater in Japan," TheaterderZeit, 2009 (German). As an independent dance critic, he has contributed numberless articles on contemporary dance since 2001.