John Solt
Remembering Yoshito Ohno
photo courtesy of Daido Moriyama Foundation
Yoshito’s smile melted snow on mountains. Because butoh has no fixed steps, the inner life of the dancer comes to the surface. As great and dynamic as other butoh artists are, there was in Yoshito and Kazuo’s butoh something especially attractive that captivated me.
Ohno Etsuko, Yoshito’s wife, who chose the costumes and did the makeup for both father and son, was an integral part of their art although she has never sufficiently been credited by dance critics for her immense contributions.
For me the most amazing thing about the Ohno family, including Keiko, Yoshito and Etsuko’s daughter, is their utter sweetness and the way they effortlessly exude love. Not only were Yoshito and Kazuo superb artists who changed the dynamic of world dance forever, but they were among the finest human beings I have ever met. And everyone who came in contact with the Ohno family is in agreement. There is saintliness in the air there. Leaving their house in Hodogaya, I always felt energized as if I was levitating.
I visited the family home and studio perhaps forty or fifty times over 45 years. I conducted the thrice weekly workshops with Yoshito a few times for fun. I would give mental settings to the assembled dancers but never suggest how they should move. Then Yoshito would layer on his instructions. On one occasion I said, “It’s the end of the human species and you—a group of butoh dancers—are the last and only survivors, and you are also on your way out. Now dance those last moments of so-called homo sapiens.”
Yoshito added, “Dance only with your back. Make your back as expressive as the front of your body.” Then he demonstrated and was masterfully engrossing in the difficult task. None of the dancers could do it convincingly, but Yoshito gave those performers something worth contemplating for years.
Eulogy for Ohno Yoshito (1938-2020)
Yoshito
you gave your all
always
you listened with conviction
spoke with certainty
and taught what you knew
to anyone passing through
you smiled through adversity
celebrating the journey
you were light as a feather to others
and tough as nails pushing yourself
when you had nothing left to dance
you retired from the stage
then returned with newly gained wisdom
stirring up unconscious residue
emitting pure authenticity
in your trancelike movements
there was nothing ever false about you
perhaps that’s why people swarmed
to spend even a moment in your hallowed presence
we were hungry for light
and you never held back
of course you had to go one day
and we had to let you go
but that doesn’t make it any easier
to endure knowing we’ll never meet
on this side of the skies again