Abstract

It was an evening in July, hot and sultry. I sat on one of the little stools scattered on the ground inside a tent, waiting for the first full dress rehearsal of Yellow Butterfly Flying to the South’s (Ch. Huangdie nantian) butoh performance Body-Vessel of the Priestess (Ch. Zhugao zhi qi, 2011). ¹ The tent perched on the hillside of Losheng Sanatorium, a leper colony in the Xinzhuang district of New Taipei City, on the west fringe of Taipei, Taiwan. The live beating of cymbals, gongs, and drums before the curtain recalled the atmosphere of traditional temple festivities of this region.