Kô Murobushi (1947-2015) est l’une des grandes figures du butô. Fidèle à l’esprit de Tatsumi Hijikata dont il a été le disciple, il aborde tout geste comme un double mouvement de mort et de renaissance. Richard Frank fait entendre l’intériorité du danseur, ses interrogations et ses souffrances en filmant une série de propositions dans des environnements différents : son studio de répétitions, la rue la nuit, ou en interaction avec la nature.

Dans "Toujours mort, enfin vivant", plusieurs partis pris esthétiques entrent en résonance avec la voie singulière empruntée par Kô Murobushi : fixité de longs plans séquences ou lenteur des mouvements de caméra, surgissement de façon abrupte d’archives visuelles et sonores, parfois directement dans le plan, quand un écran posé sur la plage ou dans un square décharge des traumatismes du siècle passé. Tout en ébauchant le portrait de l’artiste au travail, Frank tente d'approcher ce que Murobushi expérimente au plus profond de lui-même, sur le fil d’un voyage entre la vie et la mort. La voix du danseur qui vient recouvrir quelques plans parachève la construction à la fois complexe et minimaliste du film. "J’ai toujours dansé en tendant vers le plus extrême dépouillement. Je me suis approprié le dehors." Ces mots s’incarnent pleinement à l’image lorsque Murobushi, rampant sur le sable ou s’accrochant à la roche pour recevoir la pluie, renaît pour faire corps avec la nature. 

Source : Damien Truchot

Born in 1957 in Tokyo, Ko Murobushi is one of the best known and acclaimed Butoh artists in the world, and is recognized as a leading inheritor of Hijikata’s vision of Butoh.

He studied with Hijikata from 1968 and after a short experience as a “Yamabushi” mountain Monk, he founded a Butoh group Dairakudakan together with Akaji Maro and others. In 1974, he created a Butoh magazine “Hageshii Kisetsu (Violent Season)”, and in the same year, he founded a female Butoh company Ariadone with Carlotta Ikeda and also choreographed them.   In 1976, he founded a male Butoh group Sebi, and as a co-producer of those two groups, he introduced Butoh to Europe with big sensation.

Le dernier Eden -Porte de l'au-dela succeeded in Paris in 1978, and was followed by a big tour throughout Europe with Ariadone in 1981/82. From 1985, he concentrated on duo-productions with Urara Kusanagi and toured in Europe and South America in the following years. While he continues to open his dance and Butoh to the worldwide influences, he tries to research his work much deeper into its Japanese roots.

With his solo productions “Edge 01”, “Edge 02” and a group production “Edge 03”, he was invited by several international dance festivals; ImPulsTanz Festival, Montpellier Dance Festival, London Butoh Network Festival, and more. He has received numerous awards for residencies worldwide, including Mexico, India, and the U.S. He is also in great demand as a workshop facilitator and an artistic director of the ImPulsTanz Festival in Vienna. Through his workshops, many dancers got stimulated to find their own ways of dance. In 2003, he formed a unit called Ko&Edge Co. with three Japanese dancers and presented “Handsome Blue Sky” in “JADE2003 Hijikata Memorial” which brought considerable applause in Japan.

In 2004, this unit presented a new series titled “Experimental Body” which is to search the “edge” in a physical way. His choreography as well as his solo performance keeps his impregnable position as one of the most reputed representatives of Butoh, and he tirelessly challenges to reach new possibility. At the same time, he doesn’t hesitate to collaborate with various artists to continue to confirm his way and research more deeply. His latest solo performance is called “quick silver”. This acclaimed piece is leading him to a world tour, giving the audience much impression of a new era.

In 2008, he met Bartabas in Japan and decided to create together "The Centaur and the Animal" in 2010.

Kô Murobushi died in June 2015.

Source: Network Dance (article untitled "Butoh Legend Ko Murobushi Passes Away", 2015)

More information : ko-murobushi.com