The Silk Road Ballroom began as an exercise venue modeled after the semi-subterranean temple kiva of the Hopi Indians. Currently, the hall is used for concerts, dance, and as a small theater hall. In the future, I would like to be able to move closer to a garden of performing arts.
In 1981, in a corner of Chinatown, a glass-walled ballroom with a red wood border and a view from the street was built. It was forced to close in 1993 as the streetscape, lifestyle, and people passing through it changed, but it reopened in April 2001 next door to the old ballroom.
The new ballroom, built on the first basement floor, is modeled after a kiva, a sacred place for Native Americans. The local Native Americans holed up in semi-underground ``kivas,'' which were accessed through the roof, and were embraced by the earth, composing lyrics for the festival, singing songs, learning dances, and telling stories. They listen, weave cloth, meditate, and purify their bodies. In other words, it is a place where new souls can be reborn, and it is a space of creation. I would like to think about the activities of the Silk Road Butoh Hall based on the fact that it takes a long journey of 10 to 20 years for a single idea to germinate, bloom, and become a seed.
