Kim Itoh: «Kin-Jiki»

For any butoh dancer, it would be a challenge requiring extra determination to recreate “Kin-Jiki,“ based on the novel of the same name by Yukio Mishima. “Kin-Jiki” became a legendary work in butoh. It is considered to be the very first piece by its founder, Tatsumi Hijikata, in 1959. The piece, which literally means “forbidden colour”  deals with the theme of homosexuality, challenged social taboos witha striking avant-garde expression by Hijikata, later labelled Ankoku Butoh.

As the original version was danced by two legendary butoh dancers, namely Tatsumi Hijikata and Yoshito Ohno, Kim Itoh, a contemporary choreographer, aged 40, made his version a fresh duet with his fellow dancer, Tsuyoshi Shirai. Unlike the Hijikata version, also inspired by Jean Genet, which challenged conventional values as part of 1960’s counter culture, in the absence of taboos and the establishment as a tangible enemy, Kim’s version today aims to deal with individual psychological conflict beneath casual appearances, focussing particularly on relationships.

Premiered at the Setagaya Public Theatre, they dance happily with dynamic movements, as if celebrating their bodies, and radiating energy in a pure ...