Butoh is one of the most distinct forms of movement—and one of the most indefinable. The enigma of Butoh is that it really has no “style,” per se. Part acting, part dance, it utilizes the whimsical and playful nature of life to regularly explore human taboos and extremes. The problem is that the art form often remain purely conceptual, with little or no movement whatsoever.
Just the title Black/Light, on the other hand, conjures images of yins and yangs, contradictions, conflictions and oppositions. And that is what the brand-new Allen Gardner Dance Theatre is out to explore by utilizing all sorts of movement forms, especially that peculiar Butoh. The evening-length performance is designed to “take us on a journey through the imaginings of our deepest fears, our highest aspirations and the humor that gets us from one to the other, blending movement, music and video in a mosaic of truth through fiction.”
Allen Gardner Dance Theatre: Black/ Light @ Sugar Space Studio for the Arts, 616 Wilmington Ave. (2190 South), 888- 300-7898, August 26-28, 12 p.m., $10-$12. TheSugarSpace.com