Butoh Dance Performance AKA Transforms Tomie Ohtake's Abstract Art into Virtual Stage

The butoh dance performance AKA, conceived by performer Emilie Sugai and director Lee Taylor, reinterprets the abstract art of Tomie Ohtake through contemporary Japanese dance. Originally planned as a live event, it shifted to a free online format via Sympla due to pandemic restrictions, with sessions from January 28-31 and February 4-7, 2021. The work structures its choreography around four artistic languages developed by Ohtake—sketch, engraving, painting, and sculpture—each associated with dominant colors from her palette: white, yellow, blue, and red. Supported by the ProAC Award from the São Paulo State Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy, the project also received backing from Fundação Japão, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, Santa Luz, and Teatro FAAP, developed in partnership with Núcleo de Artes Cênicas (NAC). Filmmaker Joel Pizzini adapted the piece into an audiovisual format. In an interview with O Estado de S. Paulo, Sugai explained the performance does not directly show Ohtake's works but rather allows painting to emerge from the dancer's body.