Nyoba Kan Butoh Festival

18 August 2008

The Annexe Central Market

By Choy Su-Ling

ADC:  What is your involvement in the nyoba Kan Butoh festival?

“I was a guest artist in "She Walks in Beauty Like the Night" Butoh showcase.  I was given the offer in the piece last May and accepted the offer since I was back in Kuala Lumpur five days before the opening night. So, I joined in a couple of days before the opening night which was on the 17^th July.”

ADC:  Which item did you choreograph?

“‘Butoh Jam’ was my conception.  It was purely improvised, without any choreography per-se. All dancers, musicians and audience members improvised without a preconceived notion of how events would unfold within the one-hour performance.”

ADC:  What was the idea behind your choreography? Why was there a need for a festival versus a performance?

" ‘Butoh Jam’ aimed to bring together artists of various fields to improvise on a particular set of principles on which I have based my creative process.  Some of these basic principles are the clearing the state of mind so as to be able to see things from a new perspective; to be in a state of utmost awareness so as to be able to respond within the moment; to accept that things are beyond one's control so that one can be free of the desire to control.  My belief is that these basic principles can be very effective as a collaborative tool because it ultimately builds a community that is sensitive, respectful and trusting of each other.  So in preparing for the jam, I basically tried to pass on these ides to the artists involved -- Swee Keong, Jerome Kugan and Kok Siew Wai.  The whole point was to work with the unknown.”

“In my opinion for the latter question, it was a clever way of packaging Swee Keong’s work, my project and Caecar Chong's already existing collection of Butoh photography.”

ADC:  How was the response?

“We had really great feedback from veteran audience, first-timers and Dr. Anis.  There was a question and answer session right after "Butoh Jam" and Dr. Anis gave an extremely perceptive critique of the event.  His historical and scholarly knowledge of the contemporary dance scene in Malaysia, to me, gave much validity to what we did.”

ADC:  Will there be another festival?

“I hope so.”

ADC:  What would you change to make it better?

“ I would like to see the next festival to feature Butoh practitioners from other countries from the Southeast Asia.  I know of practitioners from Thailand and Cambodian and I am quite sure there are Indonesian dancers who base their work on Butoh.  I think it'd be very exciting to see if there are any commonalities in our practices.”

 ADC: In your eyes, how has Butoh grown since you first introduced this dance in Malaysia?

“I first performed my Butoh solo in 1993 and I was not even sure if I would be given a second chance to perform then.  Nevertheless, nowadays the term Butoh has become almost a vernacular in the contemporary dance scene in KL. My company, Taro Dance Theatre, was the only dance company performing pieces that were Butoh-based during the 1990s. I would usually receive requests to teach or choreograph from our audience who watched our performances. Through holding Butoh workshops and collaborating with other theatre directors, my style of Butoh became recognized throughout the years. In this decade, Swee Keong and Nyoba Kan have further broadened the taste for Butoh and have definitely built new audiences. Swee Keong's commitment and strength in his art have further established Butoh as an integral part of the contemporary Malaysian dance world.”  

ADC: Do you think Malaysians find it difficult to accept this form of dance?

“I think Malaysians have varied tastes.  I cannot think of one performing arts form that all Malaysians like.  Judging from my years of practicing Butoh in Malaysia and seeing the response received at previous performances, I would have to say that Malaysians do not find it difficult to accept Butoh.  I think people who are drawn to our works are people who are looking for alternatives to the other performing arts there are out there.  I think our work offers an alternative perspective to the conventional.”  

ADC: How would you promote this dance/take it further?

“‘Butoh Jam’ was partly an effort to bring Butoh a step further by exposing its creative process as supposed to presenting a performance, which I see as a finished product.  I believe that this creative process will build a higher level of appreciation for the art.  As in any other performing arts form, the more we watch, the more we understand and are able to watch with a critical mind, which is a good thing.  So, it is important to expose people to the international Butoh scene.”