SU-EN Body Materials Presentation, released 2024

17 hours of filmed SU-EN Butoh Method Body Materials at Haglund Skola Studio, Almunge, Sweden.

This comprises the presentation and demonstration of 65 Body Materials by SU-EN, assisted by KAI-EN and assisting participants from the SU-EN Butoh Training Programme: Madeleine Holmlund and Heiko Klandt.

The 65 Body Materials are numbered. They can be watched in any order, however sometimes we refer to a previous Body Material and accordingly it is suggested that they are watched in the numbered order. To access the folder of 65 Body Materials, please read through this text to get the background and send us a request to info@suenbutohcompany.net and we will provide access.

Introduction

SU-EN Butoh Method is based on the teachings of Yoko Ashikawa and the Butoh method and performance training at Tomoe Shizune & Hakutobo Studio in Tokyo. Yoko Ashikawa was the assistant and principal dancer for Tatsumi Hijikata, the founder of Butoh. She embodied Hijikata’s Butoh-fu (notational Butoh), the choreography written for her body. After the death of Hijikata in 1986, Ashikawa trained the remaining Hakutobo dancers and there was a development in the dance training and choreography. Ashikawa, the Hakutobo dancers, and Tomoe Shizune also trained a younger generation of dance students in the performance group Gnome. SU-EN was a founding member of Gnome and took part in the training and performances between 1988 and 1994.

In 1992, SU-EN received the professional performer dance name of SU-EN, and SU-EN Butoh Company was founded. After then relocating to Sweden, the SU-EN Butoh Method was developed at Haglund Skola Studio and a significant number of dance students have completed the basic training here. In 1995, SU-EN saw a shift in her work and named the materials comprising the base of the training, Body Materials ©1995.

The Body Materials are in part original Butoh-fu and choreographic elements from Tatsumi Hijikata as taught by Ashikawa and the Hakutobo dancers. Many Body Materials are based on original Butoh-fu and further developed in the method and style of SU-EN. Many Body Materials are original creations by SU-EN. The Body Materials are both the training and the starting point of choreography. The Body Materials are a challenge for the body and the self image of the dance student. They provide infinite possibilities once the dance student has mastered their essence. The Body Materials change slightly every time they are practised in the Studio. They are never to be repeated, but every time they are practised, it is as the first time, or as in a new way. New Body Materials are created for a new performance or training session. Currently, about 80 Body Materials form the base of the SU-EN Butoh Company training and choreographic vocabulary.

The presentation of the different Body Materials is as clear and coherent as can be concerning the original words and process in the teaching and that which has been altered and changed. Since each Hakutobo dancer is unique, their individual understanding and words have affected how the knowledge was transferred in the Studio. SU-EN’s understanding and choreographic vocabulary also have influenced the understanding of the Butoh-fu. Based in Sweden, linguistic expression has shifted from Japanese to English and Swedish, which makes quite a difference.

The Body Materials can only be fully understood in training in the Studio for several years with a teacher that has deep knowledge. This presentation is not intended to be an instruction video for dance students, but rather as a contribution to research into Hijikata’s work. The presentation is compiled to show the long, deep process of the work and how a dancing body and choreography is created through the Body Materials. It is the ambition of SU-EN Butoh Company that the films of SU-EN Butoh Method and the Body Materials can be shared with the world, so they are not misunderstood or forgotten. They are an important key to how Ashikawa’s body, choreography, and dance developed from Hijikata’s Butoh-fu during the 1980s and 1990s.

We invite open and constructive dialogue should you wish to discuss any aspect of the SU-EN Body Materials as presented in these films. We also recommend reading SU-EN’s essay on Ashikawa’s dance in the Routledge Companion to Butoh Performance.

SU-EN Butoh Company wishes to express our deepest gratitude to Seisaku Kachi, dancer and former student of Hijikata and former member of Hakutobo, for clarifying words and meanings through the process of compiling this material.

Our gratitude goes also to KAI-EN, artistic director of KAI-EN Butoh Company, who received her professional performer name from SU-EN in 2010. We also express our gratitude to TO-EN, artistic director of TO-EN Butoh Company, who received her professional performer name from SU-EN in 2009. Both choreographers and performers develop the Body Materials further in their work.

The videos are edited by Heiko Klandt under supervision of SU-EN in 2024 at Haglund Skola, Almunge Sweden.

© 2024 Mon no Kai/SU-EN Butoh Company