Tatsumi Hijikata

Born in 1928, he died 1986.

A dancer, choreographer and creator of butoh, Tatsumi Hijikata (1928-1986) was also a teacher. In his work he explores the body as material. An eccentric figure, he sided with society's outsiders. In the crisis-ridden Japanese society of the 1960s, his performances featured a body that was similarly in a state of crisis, deprived of its usual motor functions. His works were nourished by his creative collaborations with other artists, such as Natsuyuki Nakanishi and Eikoh Hosoe.

The pieces brought together here have only been seen in France on rare occasions. They come from the Hijikata archives kept at the Research Centre for the Arts and Arts Administration at Keio University in Tokyo or were specially reconstituted for this exhibition. This presentation is articulated around the vocation of two of Hijikata's major choreographic pieces: Hijikata Tatsumi to Nihonjin – Nikutai no Hanran (Hijikata Tatsumi and the Japanese – The Rebellion of the Flesh) and Hôsôtan (History of Smallpox). First performed in 1968, The Rebellion of the Flesh is a solo in thriteen parts. This two-hour piece opens with the noise of a model aeroplane flying over the audience and then crashing. Then Hijikata appears from the back of the room, standing on a palanquin carried by his students, like the process of the Roman emperor Heliogabalus evoked by Antonin Artaud in Héliogabale ou l'anarchiste couronné. The next tableaux show the cretin-king being married to himself, and then a variety of female and male characters take us up to the mad king's ascent and crucifixion.

In 1972 Hijikata developed a method for conveying forms and actions to his dancers. In 1972 he produced Hôsôtan, a show lasting ninety minutes and combining dance and theatre. The story tells of an isolated woman who has been suffering from a long sickness. In this History of Smallpox Hijikata was talking about what is repressed by society.