Buto-sha Tenkei has picked a dark vision for its new work "Kanata," which premiered Nov. 10-11 at Kitazawa Hall in Tokyo and will tour the U.S. in February. This group has a revolving membership. Ebisu Torii and Mutsuko Tanaka, performers with more than 25 years of experience in Dai Rakudakan and their own choreography, lead the company of two female dancers, this time Kaori Saito and Yukari Ueda, who also danced with Tenkei in "Nocturne."
The radical, avant-garde dance style of butoh is hardly that enterprising in the use of its traditional tableau scenes to open and close productions, sandwiching segments of solo and group work. And four dancers is a tight enough combination to achieve the "traditional" structure of a butoh performance, even for this smaller group.
It allows scope for each performer to work in solo choreography, and also gives some sense of cohesion and coherence to what can otherwise be introverted duos remembered mainly for their sense of aimlessness. But despite this, Tanaka is the diva of this company and she outshines all others, stellar though their contribution may be.