Koichi Tamano (玉野黄市) is one of the masters of the Japanese dance form

Butoh is a form of Japanese dance theatre that encompasses a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement. Following World War II, butoh arose in 1959 through collaborations between its two key founders ...

. He performed individually or with his wife Hiroko Tamano and their performance group Harupin-Ha. He has also performed with other artists including Kitaro. They introduced the dance form to the west coast of America.

Early life and career

Tamano was born in 1946 near the Ooi River in

Shimada, Shizuoka 270px, Shimada City Hall is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city, which covers an area of , had an estimated population in April 2020 of 95,610, giving a population density of 300 persons per km2. Geography Shimada is located ...

, Japan. In 1964, when he was 18, he began his 10-year apprenticeship under

Hijikata Tatsumi was a Japanese choreographer, and the founder of a genre of dance performance art called Butoh. By the late 1960s, he had begun to develop this dance form, which is highly choreographed with stylized gestures drawn from his childhood memories o ...

at Asbestos-kan, where he earned the nickname "bow-legged

Nijinsky Vaslav (or Vatslav) Nijinsky (; rus, Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, p=ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj; pl, Wacław Niżyński, ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreog ...

". His first butoh performance was in 1965 in Tokyo in a work of Tatsumi ''Barairo Dansu'' (Rose-Colored Dance). In 1968, he performed in "Tatsumi Hijikata and the Japanese-Nikutai no Hanran". Both he and his wife, Hiroko Tamano, performed with Tatsumi. In 1970, Tamano was a part of the Hangi Daitokan performance series, lasting for 3 years. He was involved in performances such as "Gibasa", "Buy Love", and "Susamedama". He founded Harupin-Ha in 1972 and performed in Tokyo. Harupin-Ha is a reference to Manchuria and has the meaning "a studying station from Asia to Europe, a place of journey of mixed culture" or "starting place of a journey". Their first performance was titled "Nagasu Kujira" or "Finback whale". He acted as artistic director for Harupin-Ha, choreographing works such as Swamp (1979), Fetus of Nature (1988), Piece on Earth (1989), Wings of a Century - ''Life'' (1990), Wings of a Century - ''Death'' (1991), and MANDALOVE (1992). In the '70s, in addition to Hangi Daitokan and Harupin-Ha, Koichi performed in "Shiki no tame no Nijyuu Nana Ban" or "27 Nights for Four Seasons" and "Hosotan" or "Story of Smallpox". Both of these pieces would later be revived during the Tamano's time in San Francisco.

Career in America

Tamano first visited United States in 1976 to perform at the "Japan Now" SFMOMA exhibition. With this visit, he also had the goal of seeking out his grandfather who had moved to the United States in 1907. In 1978, Koichi Tamano relocated to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

with Hiroko Tamano, in search of a place to raise his child.

Artistic Collaborations

In the beginning of 1986, Tatsumi Hijikata passed away. In the same year, Koichi Tamano obtained his green card in the United States. He spent the next years in Japan, performing in memorial of Hijikata. These performances included an appearance at the 1986 "

Photo Exhibition", "Rashomon" in 1987 in Kyoto with

Akaji Maro is a Japanese actor, Butoka, and theater director. Early life In 1943, Maro was born in Sakurai, Nara, Japan. Career Maro's film career began in 1980. As an actor, Maro has over 42 film. In 1972 Maro is the founder of Dairakudakan Tempute ...

and DaiRakuda Kan, and "Romanov's Sea" in 1987 in Tokyo with Akiko Motofuji and M. Ishii. In 1993, Koichi appeared as a guest performer in several state-side performances. Among them included "Goten, Sora o Tobu" with Kazuo Ono Buto and "UGETSU" with

and DaiRakuda Kan. Koichi and Hiroko Tamano were based in San Francisco where they ran a restaurant, first in Country Station in the

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

, then in Noe Valley. They taught Butoh in California and continued to perform around the world. In 2000, the couple performed in the world tour of Kitaro. The Tamanos were honored with an Izzie Sustained Achievement Award in 2005.

References

External links

Berkeley Butoh - Harupin-Ha
at Facebook {{DEFAULTSORT:Tamano, Koichi 1946 births Living people Butoh Japanese male dancers Contemporary dancers