ABSTRACT
In 1926, at the age of twenty, Ohno Kazuo came to Tokyo, and then entered the world of dance in 1936, while working as physical education teacher. Before and after the war, he was involved in the dance world, and then in 1954, he met Hijikata Tatsumi. Eventually, he participated alongside Hijikata in the creative period of ankoku butoh. How did he go from modern dance to butoh, and just what were the reasons that lead to his separation from modern dance? By looking at this period from the vantage point of Ohno, I want to cast light on the eve of the birth of ankoku butoh. 1
