Butoh Fiasco

Butoh, a form of Japanese dance theatre created in post WWII in the late 1950s, challenged conventional dance forms and embraced avant-garde topics and extreme or absurd environments.

Working with Butoh dancer Yuki Toge, whose name translates to “through movement, and without language”, the hot glass shop inspired a Promethean narrative, transcending language with gestures. TIGA students struck a score of butoh, hip-hop, and aerobic poses on the stages adjacent to Toge’s central stage. These three specially-constructed resonator stages, each with two blown glass vessels underneath, amplified the stomping sounds of all the performers. The Buto Fiasco Live Event took place at dusk, during the 45-minute transition from day to night, with the only sources of light being the glass furnaces, the glass itself, and two torches.

Participants: Toyama City Institute of Glass Art students, Jin Hongo, Sean Salstrom and Yuki Toge (butoh dancer)