Butoh

Fundoshi turns up on stage more often than you might think, whether wrapped around the muscular hips of taiko drummers or as the fig-leaf of modern dance troupes who use the human body to its full expressive potential:

In post-war Japan, Butoh (舞踏) has arisen: an avant-garde form of dance theatre that arose in 1959 through collaborations between its two key founders Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo. According to Wikipedia, "Common features of the art form include playful and grotesque imagery, taboo topics, extreme or absurd environments, and it is traditionally performed in white body makeup with slow hyper-controlled motion."

You can read a whole lot more about Butoh there. After the break, there's a glimpse into the wild and bizarre world of Butoh dance!

Here's a short performance to give you a taste of Butoh: