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January 1998 I recently attended a Butoh Dance performance at the Brett Whiteley gallery in Surrey Hills, Sydney with my soul-friend Marco. Heather Roach and two fellow dancers performed in a warehouse gallery space surrounded by Brett Whiteley's paintings. The dancers moved in agonising deliberation, with disjointed yet graceful interactions expressing existential angst. I was engrossed, distracted only by a child's plate, accidentally dropped, which rolled across the floorboards; and the sound of moths striking the lights above. The discomfortable experience drew us closer to the dancers, yet we were repelled by their intense anguish. How can pain be so beautiful? On a train journey I created these drawings of the dance. Click for a larger view. ©1998 C. Drennan