ACF 831: Butoh on Film - Darkness and Light

Tatsumi Hijikata in "Story of Smallpox"

Butoh on Film - Darkness and Light
When: Saturday, February 26 · 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Where: Studio Theatre, Harbourfront Centre
235 Queens Quay West
Toronto, ON
Curated By Chris MaGee of the Shinsedai Cinema Festival

For those of you who can make it, here's news about an exciting event taking place in Ontario late in February:

In 1959 dancer and choreographer Tatsumi Hijikata created a new form of dance expression which he called ankoku butoh. Originally a phenomena of the Japanese avant-garde Hijikata's dance, now known simply as butoh, has spread around the globe.

The CanAsian Dance Festival is proud to present Butoh on Film: Darkness and Light, a programme of rarely seen butoh films curated by the Shinsedai Cinema Festival's Chris MaGee that explore both the work of Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno as well as contemporary dancers.

Included in the programme will be:

Still from Donald Richie's film "Gisei", a rare 8mm film featuring
Hijikata and his Asbestos-kan Troupe long thought to have been
lost and only recently been rediscovered and restored.
This screening will be a Toronto Premiere!

Gisei (Sacrifice) (dir. Donald Richie, 1959)

Rose-Coloured Dance (dir. Takahiko Iimura, 1965)

The Story of Smallpox (dir. Keiya Ouchida, 1972)

Husk (dir. Eiko + Koma, 1987)

From "Kazuo Ohno" directed by Daniel Schmid

Kazuo Ohno (dir. Daniel Schmid, 1995)

Magnetic Fields (excerpt) (dir. Mario Moreleo, 2010)

The Mysteries of Nature (dir. Dahci Ma, 2008)

Tickets for this very special event are only $10.00. For tickets call the Harbourfront Centre's box office at 416-973-4000. For more information on the programme and the 2011 CanAsian International Dance Festival click here.

*PLEASE NOTE: Some films in the Butoh on Film: Darkness and Light contain disturbing and frightening imagery. Viewer discretion is advised for those 18 years and younger.