At the Hawk's Well - a dialogue between Japan and the West through the dances of a hawk woman

Abstract

The aim of this article is to compare different versions of a dance solo created for William Butler Yeats's At the Hawk's Well. This play was recognised as part of the Noh theatre repertory in Japan. We suggest that through the hawk woman's solo it is possible to observe the evolution of a dialogue between Japan and the West, since dance itself can be considered a whole universe of know-edge. In the specific case of Yeats' drama, the discussion also extends to the relationship between tradition and avant-garde, past and future, life and death.
From the many different versions of At the Hawk's Well we chose the first, created by the Japanese choreographer Michio Ito, and the 1981, 1982 and 1991 Noho productions. In all of them the characters of the old man, the hawk woman and the young Cuchulain were maintained. The mood was dreamlike, exactly as the poet always wished.