Ushio Amagatsu, who leads the internationally acclaimed butoh dance company Sankai Juku, is back from leave after treatment for cancer. His first undertaking after returning to the troupe was recreating one of its most celebrated productions: "Tamago o Tateru Koto kara -- Unetsu" (Unetsu -- The Egg stands out of Curiosity). The reworked production was staged at Setagaya Public Theatre in Tokyo on June 1-3.
Amagatsu, 68, revealed his thoughts about the production in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun where he wrote down his responses, as his vocal cords were removed as part of his treatment for hypopharynx cancer.
He was diagnosed with the disease in October last year and underwent surgery the following month, remaining hospitalized for four months. Since starting Sankai Juku in 1975, he had never taken such a long leave of absence.
"It was like having a vacation at the hospital," he wrote.
He regards butoh dance as a "dialogue with gravity" and has pursued universal themes such as birth, death and the perpetuity of time. For many years, he has deepened such thinking. Probably because of that, he did not feel perturbed during his time in hospital, he said.
"There was no use resisting. All I could do was accept everything. I felt the passing of time and the state of my body were completely new," he said.
After rehabilitation, he chose "Unetsu" as his comeback work. Co-produced with Theatre de la Ville in Paris, the work premiered in 1986. He said it was an important work created at a time when he began seeing the theme that was to become the foundation of his creative activities.
"It was five or six years after I went to live in France. By getting out of Japan, I took notice of differences and universality," he said.
"Unetsu" literally means "egg heat." The space on the stage, where you could see eggs as a symbol of life, water as the source of everything and falling sand indicating what is disappearing, reminds viewers of various things, amid which men whose bodies are covered in white powder dance serenely. What becomes apparent is the chain of life that has been going on from time immemorial. It is a motif that touches the hearts of people all over the world.
The production was staged in 33 countries until 2009, and is still receiving requests from theaters in those countries for a revival.
This time, Amagatsu will not perform, and has asked three younger members to dance the solo parts. He gave them advice in writing, as well as by dancing. He said he is genuinely happy with the first rehearsals he has done in a long while.
"Just as I thought, I felt it was a place dear to my heart," he wrote.
The company unveiled the reworked production at Kitakyushu Performing Arts Center in Fukuoka Prefecture on March 25. The audience passionately applauded the performance that was full of zeal, where they felt the performers' emotions through details such as performers' line of sight and the movement of their fingers.
"I think everyone was living in the production. Ultimately, there's no need for them to be my copy," Amagatsu wrote.
Following the performances of "Unetsu," as well as his biographical work "Kinkan Shonen" (Kumquat boy) earlier this month, Amagatsu now intends to recover his speech through surgery and work on a new production.
"I think that questions lead to the theme of creation. I cannot find questions for myself unless I try to know myself," he wrote with a smile.
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