Dancer Waguri approaches life on stage

By Asip A. Hasani

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The stage is blanketed in darkness until a shadowy figure comes out on stage with a glowing candle in one hand. When intense light shoots out from afar, it picks out a man standing quietly at center stage with his almost naked body covered in gold.

In a way, the man looks more like a robot than human. His skin, face, hair and everything that covers his body are all in gold, glowing under the light while at the same time, accentuating his unearthly appearance.

Then, he begins to move, approaching the light in front of him. He stands close to the light, and then looks at the audience the way a child observes a new object. He then moves his arms, legs and head stiffly before returning to the center stage where a flat metal sheet is being dangled. First, he observes it before touching, pushing and then suddenly hitting it, repeatedly.

The scene marks the opening of Japanese dancer Yukio Waguri's piece entitled Kematian Emas (the Golden Death), which was performed at the Centre Culturel et de cooperation Linguistique de Yogyakarta (LIP) on Feb. 23. The piece ended when the gold- colored body symbolized death the way Jesus Christ was crucified.

"I want to be easily remembered by Yogyakarta spectators as the gold-colored dancer," Waguri said through a translator after the show.

The Yogyakarta performance was actually a repertoire of three contemporary choreographers in which Waguri's piece was performed at the end of the show.

The work of young Yogyakarta's dancer and choreographer Besar Widodo, entitled Jalan Cinta (Road of Love) was staged at the first part of the repertoire. The true love story was presented by three dancers, including Besar himself, and all of them were dressed up in traditional Javanese costume.

The second part was a dance composition by Yogyakarta choreographer Bimo Wiwohatmo entitled Pseudo, highlighting life between reality and illusion.

Waguri, a reputable Butoh dancer and choreographer, is also the sole heir of Tatsumi Hijikata -- a modern dancer from Akita of Tohoku district in north eastern Japan and one of the founding fathers of Butoh who is recognized for coining the term ankoku Butoh, dance of darkness or gloom.

Hijikata's Butoh, one of several different styles, was created in 1950s, in the midst of serious social, political and economic turmoil.

Waguri himself became Hijikata's student in 1972 where he performed as the main male dancer in his master's works. He later quitted dancing to work in traditional fabric painting before making his comeback in 1984 just before his master's death.

Through his Golden Death piece, Waguri aimed to give answer to the purpose of life -- a common question prevailing among most Japanese people living in the complexity of modern and industrialized society.

"Life is just a road to death," Waguri said.

The Golden Death is also the title of a novel by Japanese writer Junichiro Tanizaki. The novel -- featuring a story about an art lover who due to his deep love of art has his body painted in gold after he passed away and is then displayed in an art museum -- has inspired Waguri in creating the dance piece.

"He (the art lover) becomes an art show without spectators because he is dead and does not know whether anybody admires him," Waguri explained.

According to Waguri, the man's life, including himself, is a sacrifice.

"I find my life is for the dance. I'm nothing without this dance," he said. "I would be mad without the dance."

Dancer Bimo Wiwohatmo said Waguri's Butoh style represented the dark side of Butoh, although at the same time, he still presented the dance as a performance.

"Some other Butoh dancers emphasize the aspect of the dance as an art performance which should be presented in beautiful motion," Bimo said.

Waguri himself is not a new face to Indonesia. The dancer has performed several times, including at the Arts Summit in 1998 where he performed with his dance troupe, Kohzensha Butoh Theatre which he set up in 1990.

In his latest visit, Waguri has also conducted a workshop with Indonesian artists in Yogyakarta and Surakarta, Central Java for two months and staged a collaboration piece with Indonesian dancer Harisinthu at the Japan Foundation on Feb. 27.