Could Replication Become Original? — A Review of 'About Kazuo Ohno'
- Elspeth Chan
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
In About Kazuo Ohno, Takao Kawaguchi pays homage to the legendary performer and butoh co-founder Kazuo Ohno (1906–2010) by meticulously studying archival recordings and replicating Ohno’s movements. Trained in mime and a former member of Dumb Type, Kawaguchi’s commitment to detail is palpable. Yet, this act of re-enactment raises a provocative question: can the spirit of butoh — an art form rooted in improvisation and the soul’s expression — be captured through replication?
The pre-show begins before the audience enters the theatre, drawing inspiration from Chiaki Nagano’s experimental film The Portrait of Mr. O (1969), made during Ohno’s retirement and before his return with Admiring La Argentina. This prelude establishes both the aesthetic and historical context for the main performance.
Kawaguchi appears by the lounge door, shrouded in a blue waterproof tarp, a single rollerblade in hand. He slowly collapses to the ground, transforming the tarp into a cape and using the rollerblade as a support, leading the audience into a black box theatre. The immersive space is scattered with seemingly random objects — a bicycle, a yellow umbrella, a ladder, trolley tracks with beer cans etc. — each exuding vulnerability without decay. Kawaguchi moves among these objects, kissing the bicycle wheel, twisting an umbrella handle until it breaks, or rising with the aid of a wooden branch. His precarious, even failing, movements are mesmerizing, revealing the beauty in vulnerability.
The staged excerpts focus on three seminal works choreographed by Tatsumi Hijikata: Admiring La Argentina (1977), My Mother (1981), and The Dead Sea (1985). The stage remains minimal, a rack of costumes and accessories. Kawaguchi himself is buried with various garments, even a green plastic tube. As the lights dim, he slowly disrobes, dons the first costume, and steps into the role of La Argentina. Though alone on stage, the performance feels like a strange duet between Kawaguchi and Ohno, the air suffused with the spiritual company of butoh lineages and beyond.
The scene in Admiring La Argentina is especially affecting, as Kawaguchi imitates Ohno’s iconic gestures. His hands slowly moving before his face, and mincing steps evoke the spirit of Spanish dancer Antonia Mercé, who so deeply inspired Ohno in pursuit of dance and hence the development of butoh. Boundaries blur — are we seeing Kawaguchi, Ohno, or La Argentina? Audio from Ohno's original performances: his stomps, the audience’s coughs, laughter, and applause play out. Sounds from the past intertwine with Kawaguchi's movements, building Ohno as an invisible avatar. The liminal space that appears between this partnership embodies butoh's key concept, Ma, which refers to the threshold between corporeal experiences.
Between segments, Kawaguchi slowly changes costumes and applies makeup in dimmed light, inviting the audience to ponder if his true self resides in the established characterisations, or in the transitions between them? The ambiguity is crystallized when he applies Ohno’s signature heavy blue eyeshadow, smiling at his own reflection, with gratitude and satisfaction.
Kawaguchi admits that he never saw Ohno perform live; his process is one of external mimicry rather than internalization. Inevitably, a sense of empathy arises, but Kawaguchi would stop interpreting his own emotions. He describes this as a process of knowing oneself before erasing what one has.This self-less approach echoes both butoh’s ethos and the ZERO movement in the 1950s.
The final scene is deeply moving: a chair on stage, an assistant supporting Kawaguchi — evoking the image of Ohno, frail in his nineties, still dancing with the help of his son. In a black suit he crawls from the chair, removes his shoes, and gently places them on the floor. The gesture is both an homage and a meditation on ageing and legacy, reminding us that dance/movement could spring from a beginner’s mind.
After touring for over a decade, About Kazuo Ohno has witnessed Kawaguchi’s own body age. As he grows older, the replication becomes less about form and more about presence, embracing the contradictions at the heart of butoh. Ultimately, the work does not seek to define good or bad dance, but to explore the very nature of the art of becoming.
*** About Kazuo Ohno is one of the performances presented in the Holland Festival 2025, for more information: https://www.hollandfestival.nl/en/festival-2025.
