PURCHASE TICKETS

Butoh, a form of Japanese dance theatre, is showcased in the winter quarter edition of “Outside the Lines” in performances featuring guest artists Kota Yamazaki and Mina Nishimura.

Running Thursday through Saturday, March 15 to 17 at 7 p.m. with a 2 p.m. performance on March 17, “Outside the Lines 2” is presented by the College of Letters and Science’s Department of Theatre and Dance in Wright Hall’s Main Theatre.

Developed in the 1950s by Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno, butoh incorporates a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations. The movement is often based on playful and grotesque imagery, taboo topics, and extreme or absurd environments.

Yamazaki studied under Akira Kasai, one of the pioneers of butoh. He established his Tokyo-based company Rosy Co. in 1996. The company has performed nationally and internationally at theaters and festivals throughout Asia, Europe and the United States.

Nishimura studied butoh and improvisational dance with Yamazaki, while she was also studying at the Merce Cunningham Studio. She has performed internationally in works by choreographers such as John Jasperse, Dean Moss, Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener, Vicky Shick, Nami Yamamoto, Ursula Eagly and Ellen Fisher. 

The concert’s program also features a new work by performance studies doctorial student Karola Lüttringhaus, two dances by dramatic art graduate student Lena Polzonetti and works by undergraduate student choreographers Pratistha Bajracharya and Jeniffer Barrientos, curated by David Grenke, theatre and dance department chair. 

Tickets, $10, $9 for faculty/staff and $7 for students/seniors, are available online at theatredance.ucdavis.edu or at the UC Davis Athletic Ticket Office, on the north side of Aggie Stadium, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by phone (530) 752-2471 during the same hours.