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WATCHSPACE - Torifune Butoh-sha Cheshire Dance Residency, February - March 2008
On Saturday 16th February, the Japanese Garden at Tatton Park provided a beautiful backdrop for a solo performance by Kayo Mikami, from internationally acclaimed Japanese dance company, Torifune Butoh-sha.
Butoh, founded in the late 1950s, is a provocative mix of traditional Japanese theatre and Western dance forms. Practitioners place strong emphasis on expression and imagination rather than traditionally specific movements. As such, the artform attracts a diverse range of artists - the company numbers school teachers, surfers and even former members of bosozoku motorcycle gangs amongst its members.
Kayo Mikami was brought to Tatton by Cheshire Dance and Marc Sebastian-Jones and her performance is a highlight of Tatton's calendar during Cheshire's Year of Gardens '08. Mikami's performance is inspired by the piece 'Kenka: Consecration of Flowers' and tells the story of a dead mother who wanders between this life and the next in search of her baby.
Mikami, who studied with the legendary Tatsumi Hijikata, founder of Ankoku Butoh (The Dance of Darkness), has toured extensively with Torifune Butoh-sha, both in Japan and at festivals throughout the world. She has performed in a number of unusual and spectacular spaces, amongst them, the ruins of the ancient amphitheatre in Argos, Greece. The celebrated Japanese Garden at Tatton provided a stunning setting for this highly original work.
