ABSTRACT
The original form of butoh spreads its roots within the darkness in which "the sniffling sound of snot faintly resembles the spirit." Within that original form an even deeper darkness suffers. The form of darkness that lies at the origins of Hijikata was just such a darkness. Sickness is a horizon event, which interrupts the image. Sickness is certainly darkness. It is not accompanied by sensitivity, sorrow, or tragedy. The weight of the body with ailing organs, which lies down completely exhausted, melts into the organless darkness. The body with ailing organs escapes from those organs, and becomes a part of the vast thick darkness, and undulates. Accordingly, "the shadow directs the light to breathe." The "body" is always being encroached on by something else and losing its contours. It is pierced by and eaten by rays of light, steam, shadows, sugar, medicine, bugs, animals, smoke, ghosts, tatamis, sliding doors, sugar candy, dogs, and cats.
