Peeled Earth and SKY

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Art, Meditation and Butoh

Ushio Amagatsu & Sankai Juku - Hibiki



Last night I went to the Irvine Barclay Theatre to watch one of my most favorite dance companies, Sankai Juku, perform Hibiki, Resonance From Far Away. These Japanese artists perform with brilliant stillness and capture the essence of slowing down and waking up the senses which in turn clears the mind and opens our awareness to our surroundings. Their simplicity of movement along with genius stage design and lighting remind us that entertainment does not always have to be so loud.

I struggled at first to stay with their peaceful nuanced gestures. I found myself slipping in and out of meditation while watching this fascinating and abstract performance. The more I could let go of the chatter in my head the more I could feel and understand the work that was in front of me. The performance itself was a moving meditation, forcing the watcher to watch themselves. I watched myself struggle, so badly wanting the performers to move quickly so that I could stay more easily present with them. Much like my Yoga practice, the more I rest my mind on my breath and pull my focus inward the more I feel and understand what I am doing in the asanas (poses). Here in the theatre the more I rested my mind on the movement and stopped fighting the reality of their gentle awkward pace I began to slip away into the story of the performance, no longer struggling with what my mind wanted but truly enjoying the beauty of this moving art work. Challenge yourself, even if you don't know what Butoh is! Take a few moments to open your mind and then rest it on the strange beauty of this dance.