December 15, 2009
2001 Paradise in the Jar Odyssey
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2009 The shaved heads, painted bodies and tortured movements of butoh aren’t usually associated with comedy, but the avant-garde dance form has always had a rich sense of the absurd. 2001 Paradise in the Jar Odyssey is a product of the sly imagination of Dairakudakan member Kumotaro Mukai, one […]
By Metropolis
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2009
Courtesy of Dairakudakan
The shaved heads, painted bodies and tortured movements of butoh aren’t usually associated with comedy, but the avant-garde dance form has always had a rich sense of the absurd. 2001 Paradise in the Jar Odyssey is a product of the sly imagination of Dairakudakan member Kumotaro Mukai, one of the longest-serving dancers in artistic director Akaji Maro’s seminal company. Part of a trilogy that name-checks Stanley Kubrick’s masterwork 2001: A Space Odyssey, the piece counterpoises the primitivism of butoh with the futurism of science fiction.
2001 Paradise in the Jar Odyssey
Comical butoh performance by Kumotaro Mukai. Until Dec 23, various times, ¥2,500 (adv)/¥3,000 (door). Dairakudakan Studio Kochuten, Kichijoji. Tel: 0422-21-4984.
