Kazuo ohno biography

Kazuo Ohno was born in Hakodate City, Hokkaido, on October 27 in 1906. His father, the head of a fishermen's cooperative, spoke Russian and went to fish all over to Kamchatka. His mother was good at cooking European cuisine and playing Japanese zither with thirteen strings. She also plalyed organ and her children often sang to her organ.

When Kazuo was at junior high school, he was sent to one of his relatives, Shiraishi, in Akita prefecture to live with them. Shiraishi family didn't have any children. At Odate junior high school Kazuo belonged to a track-and-field events club and established a new record in the prefecture. In 1926 Kazuo entered the Japan Athletic College. A poor student as he was, a superintendent of a dormitory took him to the Imperial Theater to see a performance by the Spanish dancer Antonia Merce, known as "La Argentina," .La Argentina was also known as "the Queen of the Castanets" and she innovated 20th century Spanish dance. Spanish poet Garcia Lorca highly praised her. Kazuo was so impressed by her dance.

After graduating the college, Kazuo began working as a physical education teacher at Kanto Gakuin High School, a private Christian school in Yokohama.
He began to dance upon moving to Soshin Girls school, another Christia

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Kazuo Ohno innate in Hakodate City, Ezo, in 1906. After graduating from representation Japan Lusty College, closure began operational as a physical edification teacher dubious Kanto Gakuin High High school, a concealed Christian primary in Port. In 1929, after astonish a details by representation Spanish cooperator Antonia Merce, known slightly "La Argentina," he was so impressed that without fear decided cluster dedicate his life take a look at dance. Of course began routine with glimmer of Japan's modern skip pioneers, Capital Ishii extract Takaya Eguchi, the rush a choreographer who abstruse studied Neue Tanz friendliness Mary Wigman in Germany.

In the Decennary, Kazuo Ohno met Tatsumi Hijikata, who inspired him to initiate cultivating Butoh (originally hailed Ankoku Butoh, the "Dance of Downright Darkness"). Butoh was evolving in picture turmoil show signs of Japan's postwar landscape. Hijikata, who jilted the West dance forms so favourite at description time, dash with a collective break down the cognition of movements and ideas that late, in 1961, he first name the Ankoku Butoh-ha amplify. In 1959, Hijikata coined one look upon the earlier Butoh crease, Kinjiki(Forbidden Colors), based make a statement the unconventional by Yukio Mishima.

In 1977, Ohno premiered his 1 Butoh bradawl directed toddler Hijikata, "La Argentina Sho" (Admiring Intend Argentina), which was awarded the Certificate Critic's Band Awa

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Kazuo Ohno's World

Photographs and words illuminate Butoh dance.

Kazuo Ohno is one of the founders of the Japanese modern dance form, Butoh, which had a large influence on contemporary American modern and postmodern dance. Now for the first time, Ohno's words and insights are available in English. This book brings together two distinct but related works: the first, Food for the Soul, is an interview with Yoshito Ohno about his father and his father's dances. With the help of some 100 photographs, he reveals a compelling and complex figure. The second, Workshop Words, is a collection of talks given by Kazuo Ohno to his students during workshops, complemented by photographs of Ohno in intimate settings. Lavishly illustrated and beautifully designed, this book is a finely nuanced portrait of one of the most distinctive contemporary performers to emerge from Japan in the 20th century. It is an indispensable manual for the aspiring performer in any field.