In About Kazuo Ohno, Takao Kawaguchi attempts to copy the dance of Kazuo Ohno, eliminating any possible interpretation of his own and projecting the original shapes and figures as accurately as possible. The closer it gets to the original version, the clearer the gap between the two versions becomes, minimum but inevitable no matter how hard he tries to diminish it. The paradox in this performance is that this same distance, however, highlights the very distinct characteristics of the copy. Copy is original. The viewer recalls or imagines Kazuo Ohno through the body of Kawaguchi, as manifold images of Ohno and the artist merge. About Kazuo Ohno is, in a sense, a duo in which the artist dances with the illusory image of Kazuo Ohno.
Takao Kawaguchi
Born in Saga Prefecture in 1962, Kawaguchi is a member of the artist collective Dumb Type. After taking part in a Spanish-language theatre circle at university, he studied a type of movement theatre called “mime” based on pantomime and, at the same time, embarked on a series of projects ranging from experimental theatre to dance and the art of performance. In 1990, he joined the dance company ATA DANCE with Atsuko Yoshifuku and worked there until 1995. In 1996, he joined the Dumb Type artist collective and took part in the creation and tours for OR, Memorandum and Viaje. Since 2000, he has performed with artists and musicians in different genres and has performed solo projects such as Night Colour (2001), Di Que No Ves (2003), D.D.D. (2004) and Tablemind (2006). D.D.D. is a collaboration with the Khoomei (throat singing) artist Fuyuki Yamakawa, who creates works on technology and body.
Cast & crew
Concept and performance: Takao Kawaguchi | Choreography: Kazuo Ohno and Tatsumi Hijikata | Dramaturge / Video / Sound: Naoto Iina | Costumes: Noriko Kitamura | Lighting / Stage Director: Toshio Mizohata | Appearance in Video: Yoshito Ohno | Archive materials courtesy of Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio, and CANTA Ltd. | Production management: Toshio Mizohata.
Première
August 2013, Dance ga Mitai! Festival, d-Warehouse, Tokyo.