Thursday, October 18, 7:30PM, Bowker Auditorium
Michael Sakamoto presents his Butoh dance theater piece Sacred Cow. Along with acclaimed new music composer/electronic percussionist Amy Knoles, Sakamoto delivers visceral movement, vast soundscapes and inventive costumes.
General Admission: $20; FC, GCC, STCC and 17 & under $10 General Admission
For more information please visit our website at https://fac.umass.edu/online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=1B767D1B-3D40-48DE-9A0A-D8AB66C6D2D1
Sorry we did not get to see “Sacred Cow”. Sakamoto has developed a personal vocabulary of gesture, movement, and his facial masks “pop” as do many of his movements. I hope they return with Amy Knoles so that we can have the experience of the dancers interaction with her live performance. Thank you for the opportunity. Keep scheduling performances like this.
I can’t comment on Sacred Cow, because it could not be performed due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control. I wish I could say that I enjoyed the performance. I really wanted and expected to like it, but I found it dull. Perhaps it would have been a different experience with the energy of live percussion. Or maybe in that stage set-up, where the audience is rather far away from the dancer, the dynamic facial expressions of the dancer are somewhat lost. In any case, the music for the dance pieces was alternately grating and effete, and the dances did not move me. I can imagine it might have been more compelling in a less traditional theater setting, with the audience sitting (on the floor? in chairs?) on the same level as, and maybe nearer the dancer. But from the stage at Bowker, it just didn’t translate.
We were puzzled, but delighted, especially after we moved closer to the front and could resolve some of the details of the dancers’ movements and expressions. We probably would have enjoyed it even more, with more understanding, if we had attended the pre-concert talk. Sorry we didn’t.