A Monster with its Mouth Agape
2024 | 10’ | 4K DCP, original format: 16mm | 5.1 Sound

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Watch an excerpt from the extended live version
Film extract


A Monster with its Mouth Agape is an experimental film, expanded live performance, and installation inspired by the profound insights of the late Yoshito Ohno. Its multiple forms interpret the metamorphic states of Butoh, radiating from monochromatic intensity to multihued abstraction, with a soundtrack that reverberates the haunting soundscapes from the chaotic post-war climate of Japan. The works feature a rare audio recording of Ohno, with each line of poetic movement expressed as visual metaphor. As Yoshito’s influence continues to ripple into the present, these subversive forms of dance embody a sense of timelessness, deeply rooted in Japanese archaic tradition, folklore, and mythology

A film by Steven McInerney
Visual design in collaboration with Vincent Rang
Words spoken by Yoshito Ohno
Sound by Howlround & Merkaba Macabre
A Psyché Tropes Release
Commissioned by Rebellious Bodies, International Butoh Dance Festival
Supported by Dance Archive Network, Canta Co. Ltd, and Arts Council England.


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