City Research Online City, University of London Institutional Repository Citation: Liao, P. (2006). An Inquiry into the Creative Process of Butoh: With Reference to the Implications of Eastern and Western Significances. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City University London) This is the accepted version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/11883/ Link to published version: Copyright: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. Reuse: Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge. Provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. City Research Online: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/ [email protected] An Inquiry into the Creative Process of Butoh: With Reference to the Implications of Eastern and Western Significances PhD Thesis Pao-Yi Liao Jan 2006 Laban City University London, U. K. Table of Contents Page II Table of Contents Acknowledgement IV Declaration IV Abstract V Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1 1.1 The Nature of the Research Inquiry --- ------------------------- -------- 2 1.1.1 Examining the Nature of Butoh Choreography --------- -____- ---_--_-_--_- 1.1.2 Phenomenology as the Point of Departure of the Inquiry -- - ---2 3 1.1.3 Perception as a Fundamental Issue -------------- ------------ ------ -------------- 4 1.1.4 Aspects Involved in Creative Processes ------------ --- ---- 1.2 The Aim of the Research -______-______-______----________- -____ 6 1.3 Methodology ------ -------- -- ---------- ----- 6 1.3.1 Philosophies and Theories ----------------- ------ _----- ___---------------- _-------- 1.3.2 The Analysis of Butoh Practice 8 1.3.3 Use of Source Materials -------------- 9 15 1.4 Delimitation ----- ---------_-_---------_- ------- ----------- 16 1.5 Format of the Thesis --------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2 Butoh Choreography: Philosophical Contexts 17 2.1 Traditional Japanese Culture ------------------------------------------- --------18 26 2.2 The Impact from the West ------------------------------------------------------------------" 2.3 Phenomenological Perspective ____------------- _------- __ 33 Chapter 3 Perspectives on Butoh Practice 46 3.1 The Viewpoints of Butoh Choreographers ---------------------------------- ---------- 47 3.1.1 The Search for Identity ------- ---- -- 47 3.1.2 Social Criticism 49 3.1.3 Seeking the Truth of Life -------------------------------------------------------- ----------" 50 3.1.4 Ceremony or Festival ---- ------ ------------------------------------------ --- 57 3.1.5 Body-Mind Coherence as a Means of Psychosomatic Therapy-------- --- 58 3.2 The Empty Body ------------ --------- -------------- --------- -------- - ----. 59 3.3 The Viewpoints of Butoh Researchers, Audiences, and Critics ------------------- 62 3.3.1 The Origin Butoh of ---------- ------------------------------------------ ------------ 63 3.3.2 Butoh and the Japanese 65 3.3.3 Butoh and Zen Philosophy ------------ 68 3.3.4 Butoh and Western Art Forms ----------- ---__-------- _-------------- 68 3.4 The Viewpoints Butoh Performers of ------------------------------- -------- 71 3.5 Comparison of Viewpoints 72 Chapter 4 The Network of Perception and Butoh Elements and Techniques 75 4.1 Obtaining Information from Stimuli 75 4.2 Processing Information through Neural Architecture 77 79 4.3 Top-Down Priming -------------------- --_--__---------------- ---------- 4.4 The Functioning of Consciousness -------------------------------------------------------- 84 4.5 Network of Perception and Movement -- ----------------------- 86 88 4.6 Summary ------_---- ------------- -------- ----------- --------------- -------- ---------- Chapter 5 The Diversification of Significance in Butoh Creative Processes - Phenomenological Perspectives 90 5.1 The Analysis of Choreographic Materials and Related Significances --- -------- 91 5.1.1 Sensational Intention and Visceral Perception ------------- ------------- _---- _------- 93 5.1.2 Signitive Intention and Texts ----------------------------------------------------- 97 5.1.3 Pictorial Intention and Painting ----------------- -___------ -____-------------_------------ 108 5.1.4 The Intentionality of Action ---------------------------------- ---- -- 109 5.2 Graded Fulfillment and the Multi-Faceted Androgynour Character ------------- 122 5.3 On Structuring Dances - ---129 5.4 Summary Conclusion -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 132 Chapter 6 The Diversification of Significance in Butoh Creative Processes -- Dialectical Perspectives 136 6.1 Texts ------------------------------------------------------------ -------- ---- -----136 6.1.1 Categorial Intentionality and Intuition -----_-__--_-_-__----- _-------------------- 136 6.1.2 Texts and Conceptual References 142 6.2 Visual Arts --- - ------ 146 6.3 Actions --------- ------ ----------------------------------__ - ---. 147 6.3.1 Social Structure ----- -------------------- --------- ---------------- 147 6.3.2 Cultural Patterns and Symbolism ------ ------- ____---- 152 6.4 Dance Elements: Western and Eastern Perspectives ---------------- -- 156 6.4.1 Western Viewpoints Dance Elements Dialectical of as Options of Butoh ---- 156 6.4.2 Eastern Forms Philosophies Dialectical Options Western and as of Dance -- 162 6.5 Summary Conclusion ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 168 Chapter 7 Conclusion 171 References 183 Bibliography 196 Appendix Butoh Exercises 209 Acknowledgement I would like to express my most grateful thanks to the following individuals without whose help this research would have been impossible to realise. To my present supervisor Sarah Rubidge, who has been guiding me through the final stage of the research in this year, offering me invaluable professional help and detailed advice. She has already given me support throughout the past eight years. To my previous supervisors, Ana Sanchez-Colberg and Anita Donaldson, who gave me their precious time and effort to read and re-read my thesis, and were very patient in overseeing my progress. Also to Jeffrey Longstaff, who provided me dialectical counterpoints in discussion, and helped me to examine my stance on my research. Their rigour was an invaluable aid in the process of writing this thesis. To all those sterling tutors and friends, and my lovely students who provided their precious support when I most needed it. They provided me the breadth and depth of the variety of life that directly or indirectly relates to the subject matter of my research. To my parents, my brother and sister, who have been supporting me financially and spiritually in all possible ways throughout the years. They constantly remind me the spirits, the genuine concern, and the goodness in life, without which the research would simply become a meaningless debate, and lose its dynamics and course. Author Declaration 1. During the period of registered study in which this dissertation was prepared the author has not been registered for any other academic award or qualification. 2. The material included in this dissertation has not been submitted wholly or in part for any academic award or qualification other than that for which it is now submitted. I grant powers of discretion to the University Librarian to allow this thesis to be copied in whole or in part without further reference to me. This permission covers only single copies made for study purposes, subject to normal conditions of acknowledgement IV Abstract This thesis investigates the creative processes of Butoh choreography. A phenomenological perspective is used in this thesis to explore the implications for choreographers of the choreographic options employed in Butoh creative processes. Phenomenology corresponds to the Japanese philosophical context which gave birth to Butoh, elucidating the worldview merging with the universe which underpins Butoh. In terms of phenomenology, merging with the universe is firstly understood as a state of inter-subjectivity or transcendental consciousness, and secondly as the interweaving through actions of individual woridviews and a greater world of shared socio-cultural significances contributed by different people. The inter-subjective relationship between self, other self and objects is used to examine and elucidate the juxtaposition of various kinds of imagery in Butoh. The phenomenological notion of actions is used to examine bodily movement with respect to a greater world in Butoh. Phenomenology particularly corresponds to some of the fundamental processes used by Butoh choreographers. The choreographers' initial options for treating materials, namely visceral sensations as media for merging with the universe, texts as media for perception, paintings as media for presenting images, and actions as building blocks of an inter-subjective world, are inclined to guide the creative processes to develop the manifold of a spiritual imagery and bodily actions. These options and treatments are elucidated in this thesis through the network of perception and