As the colder weather sets in, so come the ghost stories, Halloween, and the Mexican celebration of Dia de Los Muertos...The Day of the Dead.

This past weekend, I visited the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for their celebration of Dia de Los Muertos.…and had the opportunity to see one of the most influential and politically minded performance art groups in Los Angeles. Taking the city by storm with their spur of the moment performances, the Day of the Dead has become a regular happening for the troupe.

Often making unannounced appearances on subways and other public forums, Corpus Delicti are truly ghost-like. Dressed in handmade garb and wielding the appropriate props they are definitely worth keeping your eyes out for. They have something to say….and best of all…they do it all without opening their mouths. The power of good performance art can be extreme and Corpus Delicti…definitely takes the stand. So if you missed it this year…keep your eyes open. And just in case a strange white presence enters your local commuter train…never fear…Corpus Delicti is here.

I sat down with Kristnie Lankenau for a few quick questions.

WHO IS THE FOUNDER OF CORPUS DELICTI AND WHEN WAS IT FOUNDED?
Joe Talkington, sculptor and Butoh performer and Carla Melo, theatre major, UCLA and Butoh performer. it started on that big worldwide peace march in what, February 15, 2002. I came on at the end of Feb. when I had read a little article about it in the LA weekly-an article called "Butoh Call". I knew I just HAD to do this.

WHY WAS THE GROUP FORMED?
The desire to bring Butoh to the people in public places, in order to remind them of the world in
crisis. Butoh originated in Japan in 1950's by artists and dancers as a comment on a lot of things, most primarily the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The idea of the dead being present among the living.

DO THE MEMBERS HAVE PREVIOUS PERFORMANCE/DANCE EXPERIENCE AND HOW ARE THEY
RECRUITED OR HOW DO THEY FIND YOU?
Some come from performance and dance backgrounds, some don't. They come from all disciplines, and some even have NO discipline! Some people have seen us at marches, [we give out little flyers, cause we don't talk] or seen our website.

DESCRIBE THE TROUPE...
We are a very loose and organically structured group, with a core of about 6-8 people. It is very flexible. Some people come whenever they can, and that's fine, too. Sometimes I think we are like the Sex Pistols of Butoh, but other times, I feel we are the Spinal Tap of Butoh...

ARE THE PERFORMANCES REHEARSED OR IS IT SPONTANEOUS?
Usually we come up with some characters/costumes, and in street pieces, we just go for it. Same with marches. We have done some stage things at Redcat and 18th Street Art Collective with are more choreographed, and these require rehearsal, just by their very nature.
The installation pieces we do at Day of the Dead at Hollywood Forever are somewhat in between the street and stage...

I READ THAT YOU WERE INVOLVED IN SOME PROTESTS, ETC. WHAT IS THE MOTIVATION
OF THE GROUP?
We really try to make all the demos. It's traditional for us. All our work is political, because how could it NOT be? We never run out of material......

WHY IS CORPUS DELICITI AFFILIATED WITH "DAY OF THE DEAD" OR IS IT NOT...
Well I had a friend who worked at Hollywood Forever and she suggested we get in on this..that what we do is perfect for Day of the Dead. They really love what we do, and have adopted us in a sense. What a great place to perform!

WHEN IS THE NEXT PERFORMANCE AFTER THE CEMETARY?
Oh gosh I have no idea...we always find some excuse to perform somewhere, though...