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
Hijikata Tatsumi and
Ohno Kazuo. The art form is known to "resist fixity" and be difficult to define; notably, founder Hijikata Tatsumi viewed the formalisation of butoh with "distress". Common features of the art form include playful and grotesque imagery, taboo topics, extreme or absurd environments, and it is traditionally performed in white body makeup with slow hyper-controlled motion. However, with time butoh groups are increasingly being formed around the world, with their various aesthetic ideals and intentions.