A little
text about Kazuo Ohno
...you may
know i have filmed kazuo
and yoshito over the years since 1985 till 2008... (June
2010)
... good
old kazuo, what a phantastic simple big little hero of... of monet..., sorry...
of the horse on a mountain, .. of ...,
of...
...while we
were filming on rooftop ny-downtown,
i asked
(naively somehow): kazuo, what´s the most important thing in life? ...Behind
him the huge skyscrapers..., he looks at me, with the white flower in his hand,
and says: cooking, cooking is creation, i am sorry, thank you, sorry, thankyou,
sorry, thankyou,sorry,thankyou..., laughs and goes on dancing...
( i felt a
bit embarrassed, and was actually a bit disappointed, cause i was awaiting a
big philosophy like by sophokles, nietzsche, or who do you know..., then later
after sometime, i thought, yes, he is right, take the simple things,.. and be
thankful...
.. oh.., i
have wonderful experiences with him, yoshito, his wife and friends, one day i
might write a little book, but then again surely my films are enough... , oh,
.. there are still about 50 or more hours of footage lying in the corner,
someday i shouldwill put some stuff together again..., it would be like a sin,
not to bring it alive...
crazysituation
for an independentfilmmaker..., all this footage, also about other artists...,
...anyway,
lets say,
quietly or loud, HOORAYS FOR KAZUO for all his magic he has shared, his genius
simplicitiy, his strength and weakness..., yes, i remember a scene in vienna,
at the dancefestival.
Kazuo had
his last performance after quite a strenious tour through europe and half the
world (i think it was 1989 or 90), and to all-surprise one could see (well,
this is how i saw it) he felt very weak, had hardly any strength, even to do
quite normal <dance-movements>..., he looked into the audience with a
face of tiredom and exhaustion, i was nearly expecting him, he would tell the
audience: sorry, today i am too weak to perform..., but, but he went on,
onwards, really slow heavyworking movements, as if you thought he would break
down any moment.., his fragility was, i think for normal(...) spectators, a sad
sight, ... but i think i could see how aware he was of his situation all the
same..., ...he did the whole show, the music and sounds of the programm were
leading him, again i thought, he hardly hears the sounds, he was out of the
music, too, it seemed, ...really at the edge of his strength, turned and
wandered in slow circles over and around the stage...
I think the
performance was about 60min, and finally,
when
finished, he gave a little weak smile into the audience, was he apologising?,
i´m not sure, and bowed from the stage, AND THEN(!) i couldnt believe my ears
and eyes: many spectators really booed loudly and protested against his weak
performance!!!! ..some wanted their money back(!)..., a disgrace... I think
only some people clapped, i clapped ofcourse!, too, and was stunned what a
situation I witnessed...
The old
horse tired and worn out from a long travel+work gives all he can give to the
audience, which should (I think) be even more thankful than for the biggest
most joyful show, but many did not see it...
They had
come to a butoh-performance, to see the original founder and master...
I would
like to know what he thought later about the audience, ... i went backstage a
bit later, gave him a red apple, as littlepresent, and he was smiling and
happy, just like his wife glorious Chie, who, i think sometimes had a bit more
seriuos face now and then. I had the impression, that she was the thinker of
the family, and the mother with bigheart...
(and the
best cook in japan, if you ask me...)...
... sunny
greetings!, butohfanfriend peter
----
------------
okay,
sorry, i wrote a bit much..., then again, i just felt like it...
now i go
back to editing-table for the new film, about artists and animals...
with lots
of music...
-------------------------------------------
((pps
my film has
a japanese title, which kazuo had wished:
Horse Flies
Across the Sky))