ABSTRACT
Meeting the vital embodied presence of Ohno Kazuo for the first time struck me like a bolt of lightning, and I had no choice but to surrender that November night in 1995. Our small butoh company of four, led by Joan Laage, had just travelled from Seattle to Tokyo. I was sweaty and breathless as we reached the doorway of Ohno Kazuo Dance Studio in Kamihoshikawa, Japan. Apart from the airport immigration staff, the first Japanese person I met face to face was Ohno Kazuo, and it was love at first sight. His workshop that night amazed me and later that week, when I attended his live performance of “My Mother,” I wept in awe throughout, without knowing why.
