Why Butoh Matters for emerging Africa and a changing World

HAVING spent over two decades immersed in the world of Butoh, I believe its principles offer vital ways for humanity to rethink itself—particularly from perspectives outside the West. 

As the pioneer of Butoh on the African continent and a first-generation performer in the line of Ohno Yoshito, my work sits at the intersection of dance, research, philosophy and lived experience. 

Over the years I have developed performance processes and specialised methodologies that extend far beyond the stage. These approaches have meaningful applications in sports science and wellness, in the development of artificial intelligence, and in addressing socio-political and ecological challenges.

The foundation of my work lies in understanding the body as a site of potential—the place where transformation begins and is continually reshaped. 

For such knowledge to remain active and relevant in society, it must be nurtured across multiple layers of application. Dance and Performance are not mere entertainment; they hold embodied, philosophical intelligence that can guide us toward more interactive and unprejudiced societies. 

This is why, within a university context, I focus on the deep practical and philosophical dimensions of Butoh as tools for societal evolution.

I have, however, witnessed a troubling trend in Western approaches to Butoh. Too often, it is reduced to a handful of iconic images or the work of a few well-known artists. 

This narrow view overlooks Butoh’s heart—its embrace of uncertainty, difficulty, strangeness and contradiction. For many, Butoh is encountered only briefly in Japan. These experiences may be intense, but they remain far removed from the everyday life that gives the form its deeper, more complex meaning.

My understanding of Butoh was shaped through training and by living fully within Japanese society. Being part of everyday life— paying income tax, participating in the community, and educating my daughter —revealed how deeply Butoh is woven into the rhythms of daily existence. I saw how the mundane and the extraordinary constantly interact, and how Butoh naturally emerges from this interplay.

Without an understanding of traditional Japanese artforms, spiritual practices, sentient-world connections, or the subtleties of the language, Western interpretations often exoticise the form and overlook its relational philosophy. 

What is rarely acknowledged is that these principles—connection to the natural world, ancestral presence, and the fluid interplay between human, animal, inanimate and spirit realms—are not unique to Japan. They are alive in Africa as well, where these realms interpenetrate and remain in continuous conversation, shaping our understanding of presence, transformation, and relationality. 

For this reason, the connection between Japan and Africa is not an artful coincidence; it is a philosophical inevitability. When viewed in this way, Butoh ceases to be a distant “other” and instead becomes a site of profound recognition—an exchange between continents whose principles have long echoed one another but have seldom been placed in direct dialogue.

For me, Butoh is about instituting radical change in perception. It frees the body from hegemonic Western frameworks and reveals alternative narratives of movement, meaning and value. 

It invites us to confront the abjection embedded within ourselves and helps us assert our right to be present—in relation to everything and everyone around us. 

Butoh teaches that darkness is not an obstacle but a generative state, one that can awaken new ways of sensing and understanding. This is why, in my work, I insist on paying attention to elsewheres and othernesses.

When we shift our gaze away from maintaining Western aesthetic stability, new worlds become possible. As Novalis reminds us, the body is the instrument to shape and modify the world. This is at the heart of my mission with Butoh: to see ourselves differently so that our worlds may, in turn, transform.

Butoh inspires new expressions in an emerging Africa. Its principles inform contemporary dance practices, generate insights for scientific research, and foster cross-cultural ties. From South Africa, these ideas radiate outward—across the African continent and into the world.

This vision is embodied in 1-2-3 As One, the first Japanese–South African Butoh experience on South African soil. The guiding principle of consciousness informs the work, shaping how we move, perceive, relate and transform. 1-2-3 As One seeds a new research initiative at the University of Cape Town: the School for Intimate Imaginings (Sii, pronounced “see”).

Supported by UCT’s Faculty of Humanities and the Japanese Embassy in South Africa, this project affirms a shared commitment to alternative imaginaries for world-making. The Japanese Ambassador will officially open the performance, underscoring the cultural, artistic and academic significance of this exchange.

In a world still dominated by Western epistemologies, it is urgent that we turn our gaze elsewhere. Butoh, in its depth and difference, offers us this shift. It opens new pathways for sensing, knowing and imagining alternative futures.

But first, we must learn to see. Differently.

*1–2–3 As One: A Japanese-South African Butoh Experience is a series of performances and masterclasses that will be presented between 5 and 9 December.  Bookings at Quicket. 

job is an Associate Professor (PhD) at the Centre for Theatre, Dance & Performance Studies, UCT.