Author: Tata Cheng

We meet Mai in-person for the first time in LCC. We show her the Black Box studio. We also chat about the concept and the practical aspect of the performances. We also are the first time to visit the studio, and it is much bigger than we thought. At first, we are thinking using table, since we are use to playing on table with all the electronic instrument and equipment, and sitting in the back of the audience as observers. In this way, Mai can have more space to move on stage. But Mai suggested us to work on the floor, and we can sit in difference part of the stage area. In this way, she can interact with us directly, as she said she will feel alone on stage, and she wants to have us on stage to interact with. Then we think one of us in the middle and two of us on the side, and set up four speaker in every corner of the room.

We send her the recording of our rehearsals before we meet, and she seems happy with what we do sonically. However, she said she would like a structure, as she explains, even playing with the abstract sounds or concept, she would like to have a story in mind while she improvising. At the same time, we also want to use projection to shows the fragmented words or lines from the pomes, and this projection can be the ‘story’ for Mai.

We tired to improvise together for the first time, and Miles suggested we do a five minutes improvise at first, which is a good idea. In this way, we won’t get lost which could happen easily at first. Every time we could start differently. After every five minute improvise, we can reflect on what we like. After improvise for two to three times, we already can find some pattern that we like, which can be use in the performance with Mai.

I am using Elektron Model:Sample to play and live manipulate field recording that I recorded during my wild camping trip, which included fire sparkling and water boiling sounds, birdsongs from the dawn. I also used ducks’ sounds that I recorded in Victoria park and the light rail sounds that I recorded last summer in Hong Kong. Then, Miles also send me frog sounds, soundscapes of the protest and train sounds to try to used during the improvise. I also bring harmonica, Tibetan Tingsha Bells and month harp to try to use it in-between improvise.

Aparna is using no-input mixer kit from the orb, which is her first time to do sound improvise. It is a challenge for her to use this unpredictable set up to do her first improvise. However, It turns out well since the uncertainty can give us surprise to interact with.

Finally, Miles is using the synth, Korg MS-20 mini, and using Ableton granular along with Novation Launch key mini + Launch control. He live granule my sampler sounds, which he are echoing and responding my changes.

After we did the research on Butoh, Aparna suggested we can use the poem The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy as the theme and direction of this project.

The Darkling Thrush
by Thomas Hardy

I leant upon a coppice gate
      When Frost was spectre-grey,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
      The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
      Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
      Had sought their household fires.

The land's sharp features seemed to be
      The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
      The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
      Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
      Seemed fervourless as I.

At once a voice arose among
      The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
      Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
      In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
      Upon the growing gloom.

So little cause for carolings
      Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
      Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
      His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
      And I was unaware.

The poem reflects the transition from the Victorian era to a more uncertain and disillusioned modern age. At the start of the poem, the speaker stands amidst a winter landscape, witnessing the desolate state of nature. The portrayal of the scenery as “spectre-grey” and “winter’s dregs” intensifies the feeling of decay and lifelessness. The speaker experiences a disconnection from the vibrant splendor of nature and expresses sorrow over the lack of joy and meaning in the world. Then the thrush appears and begins to sing, and the birdsongs is filled with a remarkable sense of vitality and optimism, as it describe it as ‘full-hearted evensong’.

We thought this poem are really fits to our project. The theme of Butoh is death and reborn, and the theme of this poem is death of an era, and new ear begin. For further discussion, we thought Mai could the both the narrator of the poem and the thrush. Then for the sound, we could follow the flow of the poem, moving from the decay and lifelessness, to the thrush, the hope.

Butoh is a unique form of contemporary dance originated in Japan with a performance called Kinjiki by Tatsumi Hijikata in 1959. It was originally named ‘ankoku butoh’ or ‘dance of utter darkness’, as Hijikata tried to distinguish his new dance. It was later shortened to Butoh and drawn in the work of a number of other artists. It emerged as a reaction to the Western influences on Japanese theatre and sought to redefine traditional notions of dance and performance. It aimed at throwing off the constraints of Western dance and the rigidity of the highly codified Japanese traditions such as the ancient Noh drama and Nihon Buyo (Japanese classical dance). While butoh was born out of a rejection of western dance, there are pedagogical links between butoh’s founders and German Expressionist dance. Hijikata also drew on the writings of Jean Genet and Antonin Artaud, among others. The contradictions within butoh are part of what make it fascinating. Apart from Tatsumi Hijikata,  Kazuo Ohno was considered one of the founders as well. However, the two founders offer seemingly contradictory advice on the process of transformation. Hijikata said, ‘find the architecture of the cat, and the spirit will enter’ while Ohno said, ‘find the spirit, and form will take care of itself’. They approach the same point from different perspectives. Reading further, it was discovered that Yoko Ashikawa is also one of the earliest exponents of butoh though seldom mentioned due to the strong patriarchy in Japan. She danced a tree enduring the changing seasons which from the audience’s point of view, they projected an old woman or their grandmother reliving all of life’s experiences.

One of the founders of Butoh, Tatsumi Hijikata

 ‘Ma’ is a fundamental principle in Butoh that refers to the space between movements and the tension created within it. Butoh dancers strive to embody a state of ‘ma’ where time and space are suspended, allowing for a profound exploration of the body and the psyche. Therefore, slow, controlled, and distorted movements are often observed in Butoh performances as dancers contort their bodies in unconventional ways. The use of white body makeup and stark lighting further enhances the eerie and otherworldly atmosphere. 

Butoh is characterised by its avant-garde and experimental nature, often exploring themes of darkness, the grotesque, and the subconscious. The raw and primal aspects of the human experience are expressed to challenge the conventional ideas of beauty and grace. Besides, Butoh performers don’t necessarily use only human characters as a source. Equally ready to explore transforming into a stone or mud, they draw on the full range of textures available in nature and attempt to manifest those physical and psychic materials in their bodies. Drawing on the worlds of the unconscious, dreams and the irrational, butoh leaves space for the audience to bring their own thoughts and dreams to the work, offering a rich, metaphorical world to taste and to enter.

Butoh has evolved over time and has influenced various art forms, including theatre, performance art, and contemporary dance. The hybrid fusions with theatre or with visual art have also enriched and broadened the scope of the artform. Receiving international recognition and being embraced by artists worldwide, Butoh continues to be a dynamic and evolving art form, challenging societal norms and inviting audiences to explore the depths of the human condition. 

‘Meguri: Teeming Sea, Tranquil Land’ by Sankai Juku in 2019

After chatting with Jose and classmate during the class, I found the Miles and Aparna have similar interest in collaborating project. Miles has expressed his interest in creating sounds for dance while Aparna’s interest was in interactive sound objects for theatre. Having shared similar interests, a group of us three was formed. Then we are discuss where should we found the collaborator for the theatrical performance, which mainly looking for dancer, since Miles is interest in that field.

Under the recommendation of Jose, we were able to connect with an experienced Butoh dancer, Mai. Then we tried to contact her, and explain our idea and intention of project, along with our field of interested and past projects. This can give her a general idea of who we are, and what is our works sounds like. Jose also reminded us that Mai has experience of being limited in creative decision in previous the collaboration with students. Therefore, we emphasis of the form of the collaboration process, and improvisation would be a big part of the projects which make sure she will have freedom of the performance. Soon, she responded to us and accepted the our invitation of collaboration.

The initial through of this collaborate unit is working with theatre sounds. I studied Music and Performing Arts in high school. Throughout my academic journey, I actively engaged in numerous artistic showcases encompassing music theatre, physical theatre, drama, and dance performances. These experiences provided me with the opportunity to assume diverse roles such as performer, musician, sound designer, and crew member. I wanted to explore more on sounds for theatre, hence, the third option, Independent Interdisciplinary Project would be the ideal pathway of this units. I had performance in past years, working as sounds and performers simultaneously and I enjoyed live sound performance in the theatre context, since I can have direct control and response to the performer.

Throughout the years, studying sound arts, I am interested in field recording and soundscapes composition, and I want to mix soundscapes composition in to theatre and performance. I want to try to use only field recording for theatre sound design. Using field recording- the sound from the past, immersed with the live performance- the presence, would create a third space. The theatre is a space of abstract imaginations. The compliments of field recording, which are sounds from the reality, could construct an interesting bridge for the audience to jump between the virtual and existing world, or, to bring theatre close to the audience.