Martha Matsuda was discovered by Butoh in the early 1990’s. She grew into her life’s work in 2007. Martha continues to be drawn to the dark, grotesque, underbelly of its creator Tatsumi Hijikata, while at the same time to the spiritual ephemera of co-founder Kazuo Ohno. Ankoku Butoh (The Dance of Utter Darkness) was born out of the desolation following WWII, mingling Japanese sensibilities and German Expressionism flavored with Flamenco. Its evolving fusion of disparate cultural elements and vast array of ironic images continues to inspire Martha’s artistry. Among many brilliant international performers, she considers her primary sensei (teachers) to be Koichi and Hiroko Tamano, founders of Harupin-ha, 1960’s Butoh pioneers from Japan who’ve lived in Berkeley for over 40 years.
Martha has performed in the Bay Area with Harupin-ha, Metropolitan Butoh, SF Butoh Lab and at Bare Bones Butoh. In 2007, she was honored to perform with Harupin-ha in NYC for Kazuo Ohno’s 100th birthday. Martha continues to collaborate with Mark Deutsch, a brilliant multi-instrumentalist who unravels hauntingly beautiful compositions on the Bazantar. His musical approach interweaves remarkably with Butoh’s aesthetics. Martha and Mark create improvisational improvisations and continue to work with other musicians at the SF Zen Center.