Butoh

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 24. Chapters: Butoh dance companies, Sopor Aeternus, Sopor Æternus & the Ensemble of Shadows, Edoheart, Keiji Haino, Kazuo Ohno, Like a Corpse standing in Desperation, Simona Orinska, Sankai Juku, The Inexperienced Spiral Traveller, Todeswunsch, Songs from the Inverted Womb, Ich töte mich..., La Chambre D'Echo, Es reiten die Toten so schnell, Es reiten die Toten so schnell..., Voyager: The Jugglers of Jusa, Dead Lovers' Sarabande, Sanatorium Altrosa, Flowers in Formaldehyde, Ehjeh Ascher Ehjeh, A Strange Thing To Say, DEREVO, Tadashi Endo, Akaji Maro, Kokoro Dance. Excerpt: Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows (Latin: "Eternal Sleep"; often referred to as Sopor Aeternus or Sopor) is a darkwave musical project based in Frankfurt founded in 1989 by Anna-Varney Cantodea. Since the project's beginnings, Anna-Varney's music has gained notoriety for being extremely personalized, melancholic and pessimistic, drawing on a number of different musical and visual styles. The Symbol of Jusa, as seen on all Sopor Aeternus albums. The symbol represents a connection between the Roman deities Jupiter and Saturn.Despite years of media attention in Europe, not much is known about Cantodea and her personal life. All known information has been attained from interviews and publications in print. What is established is that Anna-Varney Cantodea is a non-operative trans woman, and has decided to remain as such, citing "spiritual conflict" if gender reassignment surgery is performed. Her name comes from the common name Anna, as well as the Latin word cantodea, meaning "female singer". Cantodea had been using the pseudonym Varney prior to 1997, with that name coming from the Victorian Gothic horror story Varney the Vampire or The Feast of Blood. In several interviews, Cantodea has stated that she spent nearly three decades of her life in extreme states of depression, despair and loneliness, brought on by a number of experiences and illnesses in her past. Reportedly, Cantodea suffered beatings at the hands of her parents and peers in school. At the age of six, she was subject to an out-of-body experience whilst under sedation due during a tonsillectomy. By twelve, Anna had started becoming suicidal, and in her adulthood, she had an ailment with cancer-like symptoms, nearly causing her to go blind. These events led to her discovery of the "Ensemble of Shadows"; a group of spirits that Cantodea has said came to her in dreams and provided musical inspiration. The appearance of these otherworldly spirits provided the name for the musical project. Cantodea seems