“Highly Recommended” Choice. May 2023 vol. 60 no. 9 Review #: 60-2626.

Baird, Bruce. A history of butô. Oxford, 2022. 288p bibl index ISBN 9780197630273, $125.00; ISBN 9780197630280 pbk, $39.95; ISBN 9780197630310 ebook.

How does one write about an often impenetrable form of avant-garde dance in a manner both erudite and accessible? This question is answered in spades by professor of Japanese [Bruce] Baird (Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst). Author of the previous Hijikata Tatsumi and Butoh: Dancing in a Pool of Gray Grits, (CH, Oct’12, 50-0792), Baird has prepared the way for this in-depth exploration of the careers of ten key butô dancers, including [Hijikata] Tatsumi, Ôno Kazuo, Carlotta Ikeda, and Tanaka Min. In this book, Baird provides refreshingly frank description and analysis of their artistic and pedagogical practice centered on key themes such as gender and sexuality and the relationship between the individual and the social world. Offering what may be a concession to the interests of the average Japanese studies undergraduate, Baird also relates butô to contemporary Japanese otaku culture and the world of video games. Two excellent short chapters (each inserted as an artful “Interlude”) focus on the practical economic relationship between butô and burlesque (“Butô and Cabaret”) and on the historical importance of French theater culture in the international recognition and popularization of butô (“Butô’s Success in France”) respectively. The text is supported throughout with 62 illustrations. Students and scholars of dance and dancers themselves will find this a compelling read.

Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.

–Casey Brienza