I just have to share this and contribute to your eyes problem and haching back AND etc etc etc. This is so great! I've watched 4 times already, a long time since something exited me so much! THIS GOES WITH MY HEART WARMING RECOMMENDATION
It is art, it is madness I dont really know but I want to find out! Personally some how some day. I just hope I can really see this live!
and after the vague ramblings
the rest of the topic.
WHAT IS BUTOH DANCE?by Dan Hermon, webmaster of Butoh Net
Butoh dance is a performing art that originated in Post World-War II Japan and was first performed in 1959. It is a contemporary form of dance that has little to due with either traditional Japanese dances or most western forms of dance, although it does borrow elements from some of each. I make no attempt to deal with the history and development of the dance here. That can be found on another page. There are almost as many styles of Butoh as there are performers, and so, it is hard to define for someone who has never seen it. While it did begin in Japan, it's influence has spread with the migration of expatriate and travelling Japanese performers and teachers, and companies and individuals who practice it or have been influenced by it or who incorporate portions of it into their own style of performance can be found on nearly every continent with the exception of Antarctica and, possibly, Africa. (If anyone knows of any Butoh performers in Africa, please contact me at the link below or on the Tangentz Butoh home page)
The most common factor in Butoh is one item that it does borrow from some traditional Japanese dance and theater: white body makeup. Not all Butoh performers use this makeup, though, some have used gold, silver, red or black makeup and some use no makeup at all. Depending on the dance and dancer, they may perform in an elaborate costume with extensive props or with a simple leotard or loincloth or even completely nude. Their hair may be wildly teased, elaborately coiffed or completely absent (head shaven clean). They may be part of a group of 10 or more dancers or they may perform solo. They may leap wildly about in a frenzy with loud music or perform with no soundtrack and have small movements so subtle that at any distance they would appear to move very subtlely and very slowly.
The most unconventional aspect of Butoh is its movement and the preparation that the dancer undergoes to prepare for the dance. It is a dance that has as much to do with meditation or martial art training as it does to dance in the conventional sense. It derives its power from what the individual who dances it brings to it in a very mental as well as physical sense. It is a directing of energy to the audience from the surroundings, the environment and the audience themselves as much as from the mind in a way similar to how a pastry chef uses a paper cone to direct the icing onto a cake. Beginning dancers who have not had the benefit of training the mind may look at what they have seen before live or on videotape and may try to imitate those physical movements. Merely imitating the physical movement that one sees on a videotape or from a seat in a theater tens of yards away will most likely lead to a dance that may seem different, unusual and interesting to someone who has never seen the dance before, but which is hollow and uninteresting to one who has experienced Butoh performance up close or has gone through the process of preparing for and carrying out a performance of Butoh.
There are variations in methods of training to dance Butoh. Some focus on a strong physical discipline to bring about a catharsis in the dancer. Indeed, those who have had no training in dance at all are generally the ones who have the easiest time of it. This is because to dance Butoh, it helps to forget all the training received on how to move for other forms of dance. To dance Butoh is to dance like no other dance on earth. It has no physical technique or common terminology for the dance itself. It is a dance unto itself, for it is the unique expression of the dancer unencumbered by language and tradition and constraint. For this reason and possibly others, it is considered by some to not be a form of dance. For some it appears that the rigorous training and mental preparation needed to acheive the state of Butoh dance makeit seems as if it is a religion. However, it is not a religion, it is a dance form, a form of performance involving movement primarily and other elements only secondarily.
This difficulty in quantifying the nature of the dance is a good reason that, with one or two exceptions, you will not find Butoh taught in a formal educational institution such as a university dance department. To prepare a curriculum for a dance department, it is difficult to create readily measureable steps that a student must achieve and which have to be clearly and commonly understood and able to be demonstrated on demand. This does not exist in Butoh, but neither does it in Dance Improvisation classes and they are somehow graded. I would like to see more Butoh in institutions of higher learning, but I will not hold my breath.
It can be said that the development of a dancer or athlete or artist can only occur beyond a certain point if certain qualities already exist in the student. It is for this reason that not all who try Butoh will excel at it. An excellent physical state and great strength and agility do not figure as highly in Butoh as they do in many other forms of western dance, and, though a dancer may be excellent in ballet, modern, jazz, or other physically demanding forms of dance, it is no guarantee of ability in Butoh. One need not have what is traditionally thought of as a dancer's body and may still do quite well.
So how can one recognize what Butoh is? The most easy answer is to ask. What constitutes Butoh is a controversial subject and one that is by no means easily arrived at or agreed upon by many people. Thus you may get different answers from different people regarding the same performance. A note of warning: If you are looking for an authority on Butoh, do not necessarily trust someone who writes a review in a local newspaper. Inform yourself by seeing as many different performers as you can and talk to them if you can. See the few good documentary videos on Butoh. Read as much as you can. While Universities may not always be the easiest place to find avant garde work being created, those with dance departments often have collections of books and videos in the regular libraries on campus or in the department's private collection. Talk to the faculty, ask them their opinions, but remember to experience it for yourself before you start to form your own opinions. Make friends with someone who is in a university dance department and ask if they know of any materials on the subject. Librarians can also help and can arrange for inter-library loans.
Mine is but one essay on Butoh. Read all you can and form your own opinion, but above all, GO SEE THE DANCE in person. Go take a workshop or class. Be openminded. Be prepared to have your ideas challenged. Be prepared to travel if you have to. Nothing but a good live performance or workshop experienced firsthand can communicate fully the power and beauty of Butoh. I wish you the best of luck in your quest to experience Butoh.
All of the opinions included herein are those of the author. We welcome feedback on the content of our website and encourage you to write and let us know what you think.
http://www.butoh.net/
Specs:
XviD @ 1630kb/s
700MB, 00:55:29, 560x416
Mp3 @ 128kb/s
Try not to watch this like you are going fo see a Freak Show, try using your heart rather than your mind to watch it.
Dance.of.Darkness(Butoh).avi 
I forgt to mention thanks to faustroll who lend me the DVDr 
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If you got more things about Japan... they're welcome, i love it 
plas: 
...hehe...but I know i can't hold my hand to click and watch this horror but fasinating stuff... 