Homage to Federico Garcia Lorca

by Ithaca Butoh

Review by Bill Chaisson

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You should probably know at the outset that butoh is a form of Japanese modern dance and Federico Garcia Lorca was a beloved Spanish poet who died in 1938, very likely killed by the troops of General Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. Armed only with this information you can appreciate Homage to Federico Garcia Lorca, choreographed and directed by Amanda Moretti.

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The evening begins with a shorter piece called Remnants … and Letting Go, which serves as a sort of primer to those who have not seen butoh before. It begins with a woman squatting in a white shift, her face and body smeared with whiteface, the back of her right hand pressed against the floor. Her movements are jerky and in slow motion. Four other dancers enter and array themselves asymmetrically about the squatting woman, their hands making wave-like motions.

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The movements of the four supporting dancers recall the work of Twyla Tharp and for much of the piece they would seem to almost be in a separate existence from the woman in whiteface. Then the four stop in a line arcing away from the woman in white. She at last notices them and explores them, causing them to melt to the floor slowly. They then rise just as slowly and all depart.

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Because there are fewer dancers and there is more space between them, Remnants allows you to study some of the conventions of butoh more easily. Homage eventually requires following the movements of 10 dancers on stage, and the collective effect of following the ensemble motion is analogous to listening to a chamber orchestra play. As the various instruments have their parts, so the dancers or pairs of dancers have theirs. You can listen to the whole or to the parts, but you can't do both at the same time. As with Baroque music, not all the instruments play at the same time. Homage is marked by repeated arrivals and departures of various dancers and several costume changes.

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The language of dance is perhaps less well known than the language of music. The relationship between the accompanying music of Homage and the choreography is compelling. The first scene of Homage is backed by lush strings. In the second they are joined by horns. This is then reduced to the sound of single viola with a single dancers movements synchronized to the melody.

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The appearance of the dancers is striking throughout. All are in whiteface, but their costumes change from ball gowns through most of the performance to formal black evening wear in the final scene. The transition in costuming is marked by an interval populated by a single child in a pinafore dress. She spreads three lemons and three limes on the floor around herself and then raises up a grapefruit ceremonially.

The return of the ensemble in black comes in the form of a double column marching with their hands to their heads and stamping in unison. The militaristic air meant to convey Franco's forces is quite clear. The murder of Garcia Lorca is a dramatic and drawn out episode, full of facial expressions from the dancers that are complex and varied, but predatory.

It should be noted that immediately after the murder it is silent on stage, with the ensemble appearing at first to disperse and then slowly circling until their backs are to the audience. As they turn back toward the audience the music resumes and their hands move down their bodies grotesquely and some of them flick their tongues in a manner that is nearly reptilian.

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The final scene is striking in its pathos as the company breaks into four pairs and single figure. In each of the four pairs one dancer where's an armband made of a woman's slip. The other dancer slowly unwinds it and uses it as a shroud. As this happens the lone figure writhes separately and in some agony.

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In the end the dead rise and move to stage left as the other remain on their knees, watching.

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It is easy to see why a butoh dance piece has been included in a Fringe Fest with four plays. There is a storytelling aspect to butoh that is more obvious than in other forms of modern dance, which don't necessarily include a discernible narration.

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You need not know the story of Federico Garcia Lorca or the language of butoh to be moved by Homage.