Oguri, Renzoku in Stark ‘Windscape’

Butoh, in its dreamlike, albeit occasionally nightmarish, unadulterated micro-movement existence, either sucks you into a trance-inducing world or leaves you cold and questioning, an unsatisfied gawker. Oguri, indisputably a Los Angeles treasure and master of the art, is the essence of butoh; his company, Renzoku, though technically adept in backbreaking poses and miming twisted configurations, unfortunately emits a high-gloss artificiality.

This was apparent Friday night at La Boca Sunshine Mission, where Oguri and Renzoku presented “Windscape,” a program strung together to taped music, where jungle sounds butted up against scratchy Greek wailing, a visceral Spanish interlude and the stark piano overtones of John Cage. Set on and around a tiny, black platform stage with a white-sheeted backdrop, Oguri made a “walk-on” cameo appearance in black hat, long strands of wiggy hair and a black suit.

Oguri in rabbinical mode: Wow! Even in this guise, the performer--committed to tiny-stepped perfection, languid as the air on a steamy Louisiana night--commands attention. Alas, all too briefly, as the tableau reduced itself to a series of scenes played out unconvincingly by company members.

Jamie Burris pierced the work with a hyper-orgasmic laugh; Lakshmi Aysola maintained a visage of open-mouthed horror; Boaz Barkan, head cocked while teetering on agile limbs, emitted guttural, nether world sounds; Sherwood Chen exhibited balance feats on bended toes amid constantly fluttering hands; and Dona Leonard displayed inverted stances to decent effect.

A kind of neo-happening where the landscape could be desert, aquatic, alien or primeval, the soulless “Windscape” ebbed into ineffable ennui.