OnenessButoh
journey with eyes wide open
past productions
Rite of Egression (2017 world premiere)
March 8 and 9, 2017
SAFEhouse Arts, San Francisco, CA
Rite of Egression, a new Butoh solo choreographed and performed by Judith Kajiwara, was created especially as the opening act to San Francisco poet leurate Genny Lim's new work, "Don't Shoot: A Requiem in Black". It was inspired by the music of Bay Area sound artist Sam Genovese. This 34-minute journey of consciousness is told in five dances that progress toward the inevitable transition of the human spirit into the after-world. There are so many ways we make this transition--whether inividually or as a shared group, whether expected or unexpected, whether ready or not. Kajiwara was inspired by the plight of our whale friends, as many continue to beach with no apparent reason that can be convincingly explained scientifically. Yet there's always a greater purpose in when we choose life over death, or death over life. It is our unpredictable Rite of Egression.
Randomness of Nothingness (2016; 2017)
Saturday, September 24, 2016 (premiere)
Saturday, June 10 and Sunday, June 11, 2017
NOHspace, San Francisco
Program 1: Three Women. Three powerful solos--Released!, Cellar, and The Chair--tell personal stories of enslavement, grief, loss, abuse, fear and ultimately love and forgiveness. Performed by Nina Moore (accompanied on taiko by Ruth Ichinaga & Kiyono Kishi), Judith Kajiwara (original soundscape composed by Kallan Nishimoto), and Ruth Ichinaga (original music by Shinji Eshima).
Program 2: Randomness of Nothingness. Visually woven together into 9 dream-like vignettes, this ensemble piece offers a surreal, sometimes, comedic, look at ways we hide ourselves to complacently blend with the expectations of society. As life shifts more and more toward the absurd and insane, ultimately we must find the courage and resilience to evolve within. Only then can a renewed higher consciousness and a unified, fearless humanity launch this crucial transformation--a transformation necessary for our personal and global survival.
Locust in Your Mouth Trilogy (2015 world premiere)
Saturday, May 9, 2015, Royce Gallery, 2901 Mariposa, San Francisco
Locust in Your Mouth Trilogy tells a chilling story set to a haunting electronic composition by Bay Area sound artist Sam Genovese. It is comprised of three dances: Dance 1: Beings of Light; Dance 2: Woman Warrior; and Dance 3: Ascension. Locust transports the audience back 40 years to the historical war in Vietnam. It is a crucial and timely work that--though may be considered controversial--opens the curious mind to catapult out of conditioned comfort into higher, evolutionary thought.
photo: Jaysi Chander
photos: Edward Cornelius III
Ode to Minamata (work-in-progress)
Saturday, December 6, 2014, We All Live in Bhopal/Live!, Subterranean Arthouse, Berkeley, CA
Emotionally moving, this 12-minute sample of a work-to-come brings awareness to Minamata City, Japan, where Chisso Corporation, a fertilizer factory, carelessly dumped toxic, mercury-laden wastewater into Minamata Bay from 1932 to 1968. The wastewater contaminated the fish, which in turn contaminated local residents whose diet consisted of the fish. An estimated 2 million people from the area suffered major health problems or were permanently disabled from the contamination. More than 900 people died from the contamination, which caused concern when people began exhibiting symptoms of a neurological disease (called "Minmamata Disese") in the early 1950s.
Through this performance, OnenessButoh expresses its solidarity with Bhopal, India, where the 1984 Union Carbide Disaster--the worst industrial tragedy in history--killed as many as 25,000 people, and left 120,000 chemically ill. The catastrophe continues today with contaminated groundwater and soil surrounding the abondoned factory.
Ode to Minamata is dedicated to all communities throughout the globe that continue to fall prey to this hidden form of genocide. When complete, it will be performed to live taiko drumming and other Japanese instrumentation.
Journey with Eyes Wide Open (2014)
August 30 and November 1, 2014, Flytrap Studio, Oakland, CA
This production was a showcase of premiere performances by OnenessButoh. It featured new solo works by Lipton Mah (Journey: The Poetry of Angel Island), Ruth Ichinaga (The Chair), and Judith Kajiwara (Strings & Wings); an ensemble piece (Locust in Your Mouth Trilogy, Dance 1: Beings of Light); and improvisational duets inspired by audience members' selection of two Angel Insight Cards. The showcase featured original musical compositions by Sam Genovese (Beings of Light) and Shinji Eshima (The Chair). Motoko Honda, free improvisational pianist, was the guest artist (www.motokohonda.com).
Locust in Your Mouth Trilogy (work-in-progress, 2013)
October 2013, Mary Sano Dance Studio, San Francisco, CA
Locust in Your Mouth Triology, Dance 2: Woman Warrior (work-in-progress preview performance), is a work-in-progress trilogy set to the haunting electronic score by sound artist Sam Genovese (www.samgenovese.com). Dance 1: Beings of Light, and Dance 3: Transcendence are currently in progress as OnenessButoh ensemble pieces. Dance 2: Woman Warrior is a solo piece danced by a Vietnamese woman soldier, during the war in Vietnam. She gives the audience a glimpse of the devastation of a cruel and tragic war. Her message is a prayer for peace and an awakening of consciousness surrounding the sordid truth hidden from us about wars and how senseless they are.
Silence of Ma (2013)
June 1, 2013, Subterranean Arthouse, Berkeley, CA
Silence of Ma is a collaboration between Judith Kajiwara and Berkeley-based world reknown musician Kai Eckhardt (www.kaieckhardt.com). It is a musical, sound exploration interpreted through the powerful, provacative movement of Butoh coupled with the jazz-funk improvisational music of Eckhardt. Silence of Ma is a progressive journey of consciousness--As Above, So Below--whether microscopic or macroscopic, we all desire and strive to be One Unified Consciousness. Apocalyptic in feeling, this piece strives to tear us asunder before we can rebuild/rebirth into that higher space.
Kurozuka (2012)
June 2013, Theatre of Yugen Presents, NOHspace, San Francisco, CA
Kurozuka (The Black Mound) is a 1,000-year-old legend from ancient Japan about a "man-eating old woman, named Iwate, who lives alone in the cold mountains of Northern Japan. This Butoh rendition was inspired after viewing the films of the live Kabuki and Noh performances of this famous story. Since it premiered at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC) as a simple 12-minute Butoh solo, Kurozuka has evolved into three more versions. These versions featured improvisations by Shoko Hikage (koto), Roy Hirabayashi (fue & percussion), and Tomohiro Tanaka (koto); chanting the San Francisco Zen monks; chanting by PJ Hirabayashi; and the addition of the Buddhist monks by PJ Hirabayashi & Lipton Mah.
The Dress (2012)
June 2013, Theatre of Yugen Presents, NOHspace, San Francisco, CA
This solo piece choreographed and performed by Judith Kajiwara is a "sad" parody that signifies the end of relationships everywhere. At the beginning of 2012, Kajiwara found a brand new dress handing in her closet. It had been a splurge purchase early in her 20-year marriage. She dreamed of saving it for that special occasion. That day never came, the marriage ended and the dress had long been forgotten. Still with its tags, she performs The Dress wearing the dress. The Dress is dedicated to those who no longer seek love outside of themselves, but have found it within.
Shedding Skin (2012)
September 2012, Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Oakland, CA
As Artist in Residence at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Judith Kajiwara taught a Butoh Performance Workshop to a group of 8 curated students. In this workshop, students learned how to choreograph and develop a Butoh performance piece. Participants included Ruth Ichinaga, Laurie Buenafe Krsmanovic, Lipton Mah, Nina Moore, Coke Nakamura, Sharon Sato, Angela Urata, and Pear Urushima.
Tsunami (2012)
May 2012, Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Oakland, CA
As a part of Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, this performance paid homage to the survivors, both here and on the other side, of the March 11, 2011 earthquake/tsunami in Sendai, Japan. Performers included PJ Hirabayashi, Lipton Mah, Nina Moore, Coke Nakamoto, and Sharon Sato.