Sankai Juku, a Butoh dance company from Japan, is returning to Lawrence to perform its new work, "Hiyomeki."
The performance, at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Lied Center, will be the third time the dance troupe has performed in Lawrence. In 1993, Sankai Juku opened the first New Directions Series at the Lied Center, and returned in October 1996.
The dance company will use 1,400 pounds of sand during its performance of "Hiyomeki," which translates as "within a gentle vibration and agitation."
Butoh evolved during the 1960s as an expression of humanitarian awareness by Japan's post-war generation. Led by world-famous Butoh practitioners Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno, Japanese dancers began rejecting the traditional forms of Eastern and Western dance, including Kabuki and Noh, and investigating a new method of expression that would project the body and feeling of their generation.
Sankai Juku and its artistic director, Ushio Amagatsu, are part of the second generation of Butoh dancers in Japan. Before he worked in the Butoh style, Amagatsu trained in classical and modern dance.
In 1975, he started a series of workshops. From these he developed the idea of Sankai Juku, which translates as "studio of mountain and sea," and selected three dancers to help create the company.
The company staged its first full-scale production, "Homage of Ancient Dolls," in 1977.
Tickets are available at the Lied Center Box Office, 864-ARTS; Murphy Hall Box Office, 864-3982; Student Union Activities Box Office, 864-3477; KU Medical Center Bookstore; and any Ticketmaster outlet, (785) 234-4545 and (816) 931-3330.
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