Butoh dance: Kea Tonetti
live music: Tivitavi
duration time: 60’
In Japanese culture, Shishi Gami is the spirit of the forest, a universal symbol representing the forces of nature, woods, and animals in their mythical dimension, before human intervention altered the balance with nature. It has similarities with the myth of Dionysus, that of the Celtic Kernunnos, the man with deer antlers who lives in the forest, and the Indian myth of Pashupati, the lord of the animals. Shishi Gami is the supreme being that has power over the life and death of all creatures that live in the forest. With every step, wherever his feet touch the earth, plants and flowers bloom and die immediately afterwards. It has the power to take life and give life and to walk on water. It is born during the new moon and the cycle of his life and death is in tune with the phases of the moon. It is believed that his head gives the power of eternal youth.
Inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s “Princess Mononoke,” the performance culminates in the tragic moment of the clash between the forces of nature and human intervention to possess and tame it. Catharsis occurs with the death and rebirth of the Spirit of the Forest, thanks to which nature and humans flourish again in a new world, heralded by the song of returning birds.
“The mineral world, the plant world, the animal and human world, and the subtle world of the spirits and of the gods each exist because of one another and for one another. There can be no true approach of the divine, no seeking of the divine, no science, no religion, no mysticism that does not take this fundamental unit of creation into consideration.”
(Alain Daniélou)
The performance was presented at: Kulturraum Rosenhof Festival, Tegernau – GER (2009); Spazio Nu, Pontedera (2009); Sconfinando Sarzana Festival, Sarzana (SP) – IT (2010); Teatro la Scala della Vita, Milan (2010); Dojo Sheegana, Milan (2010); Eco-Art Festival, Asti (2011).
Photos by Elena Bennati and Gabriele Seidel.