If Sharon Stern's Sharon Stern were alive, he would be 43 years old in two days.
She may have had children with her husband and lived a rich and peaceful life in Florida; she may be a beloved dance teacher and a beautiful dancer who is still active on stage.
But alas, there is no if in this world. 10 years ago, Sharon committed suicide after sending her last email to her dance mentor.
After her death, her parents and ex-husband campaigned for years to bring the mentor to court. They believe that the mentor is unshirkably responsible for Sharon's death.
Sharon's father said: "He manipulated her psychologically, physically abused her, sexually harassed her, had full control of her, and took away almost all of her free will." She became the master's possession, the mental and physical slave, and all existence served him only. ”
(Sharon and Father)
This instructor is Katsura Kan, a dancer with a high reputation in the dance world from Kyoto, Japan.
(Warning: Some of the following pictures may be uncomfortable)
The dance performance at the opening of the Tokyo Olympic Games last year expressed the memory of those who died in the epidemic and left a deep impression on many spectators.
However, because the performance tone is gray and the dance steps are obscure, many netizens complain about "hades", "weird", "dark" and so on. After watching this opening ceremony, many people also know the unique dance form of Japan: the dance step Butoh.
Dance is a kind of modern dance that emerged in Japan after World War II, which is the concept of japanese dance literary and artistic circles that opposes the traditional aesthetics of the West, trying to find Japanese identity and pursue the liberation of the body and mind.
It challenges and satirizes Japan's pre-war warlordism and the convergent culture of postwar Japanese society, and questions the West's post-war "colonization" of Japan's cultural values.
Its themes cover disease, eroticism, violence, disability, death, ugliness, and the dancers are painted white and will make shouting, twisting, creeping, and crab foot movements during the performance.
If different forms of dance can be seen at a glance, then the dance can be said to be a dance full of negative emotions and body language, which is frightening and even painful, hence the name "Dance of Darkness".
Gui Kan, a well-known dancer in the dance world, joined the famous dance troupe "White Tiger Society" since the 1980s, and has been active on the stage for the next 40 years, performing in many countries and regions around the world.
As a big man in the industry, Gui Kan has long lectured at overseas dance schools and is very respected.
When touring, he will also eat and live with students, convey the cultural values behind the dance steps, poke taboos, teach students in Western countries to let go of themselves when dancing, and use themselves as a medium to counter the shackles of traditional beauty.
Each art form has a unique philosophy and audience, which of course deserves respect. But as a student, Sharon, her story of learning and understanding is not just about learning to dance.
Sharon was born on January 19, 1979, to a Jewish family in Florida, the eldest of the family, and a younger brother.
The siblings' parents were in the jewelry business and came from a well-to-do family, so Sharon grew up carefree, loved dance performances, and was a star student at school.
Her life has been smooth, and after graduating from college, she participated in a number of dance projects and married her husband Todd Siegel at the age of 28.
After marriage, Sharon wanted to continue her studies, and her husband was very supportive, and she finally successfully got a master's degree from Naparo University in Colorado.
In the first class of graduate school, Sharon met visiting professor Gui Kan. According to the memories of students at Sharon's same level, in the first class, Gui Kan conveyed the concept: "The first step of dancing is to give up the self." ”
The concepts of meditation, letting go, and forgetting oneself are very strange and novel to Sharon, who has been living and eating carefree since childhood, and she actually did not adapt to it at first.
The body language of the dancers is also completely opposite to the ballet and modern dance she has learned.
Sharon's father said: "Gui Kan repeatedly emphasized in the class to seek pain, torture, death, deny self, abandon 'arrogance', abandon the traditional concept of family and friendship, and turn away from everything that a person has experienced, so as to become a dance master." ”
In the relationship between the student and the teacher, the teacher is undoubtedly the party of authority. And if he still has prestige and fame, then the right to speak about the student's performance is even more obedient.
Sharon's classmate said: "One day, the teacher asked us to imagine ourselves crawling all over our bodies, imagining that they were occupying our bodies. Sharon seemed to stop resisting at once, allowing this spiritual force to control her twisted body. ”
(Gui Kanhe student, sharon on the far right)
For two years, Sharon continued to "improve" her dancing skills, and when she graduated in 2009, she created a work called "The Road to Nothingness". She wrote in her diary: "I want to fearlessly enter the dark land of the self. ”
On the eve of graduation, Sharon and other classmates put on stage all over the stage covered in white powder, and her husband was also present to support, but was frightened by her completely different posture: "I don't know who my wife is anymore." ”
After watching the performance, her parents said: "I can't see any artistic beauty, but Sharon retorts that 'we're not here to please the audience.'" ”
After graduation, Sharon stayed at the school as Gui Kan's assistant and began to tour the world with him to promote dances.
At school, Sharon is just immersed in learning, or will maintain a closer relationship with her family, after leaving the campus to start touring with her mentor, the last line between her and her family and friends was broken.
Her classmates said that when they were in school, the head of the department would discuss with everyone the importance of questioning the masters and their theories: "The director does not want us to lose ourselves in order to please the tutor, but to understand that we do not blindly follow and maintain the right to choose." ”
But in Gui kan's "Japanese" approach, such a sense of authority cannot be easily broken, and it will deepen over time.
Taking a step back, there is no problem with a close master-apprentice relationship. What went wrong was what Gui Kan did from beginning to end: in the name of art, he did something violent.
In early 2011, they toured the United States and South America together, eating and living together on the road. Gui Kan later told the media that he and Sharon had never had a relationship.
But Sheri Brown, a dancer with the company, said: "They have collaborated many times and Sharon is naked. I said to Sharon, 'I know you adore him, but it's ugly to have a relationship.' ’”
Sharon promised that no relationship would occur, but later admitted to Sheri that they had. In order to express her absolute loyalty to the master and the dancer, she soon chose to divorce her husband, who had always supported her, and followed Gui Kan wholeheartedly.
Gui Kan said in an email with her: "Let's chase meaning together for the rest of our lives and even after death!" ”
But is it really, as the master said, to chase the ultimate meaning of art together? In July of that year, on the Brazilian tour, Sharon's local friends also went to see it, but when they saw Sharon was thin, suspected of taking drugs when performing alone, delirious, and confused after the performance, he repeatedly heard Gui Kan say to her: "Put your vulnerability into the dance step!" ”
Later, Sharon's father said in the lawsuit that Gui Kan drugged Sharon before the performance for the so-called "stage no-self realm".
On August 6, 2011, the Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, called Sharon's parents to inform them that their daughter was missing. The parents flew there overnight and finally found their mentally broken daughter in a psychiatric hospital.
Police said Gui Kan took the troupe to an area of Copenhagen full of drug violence for the night, and for two weeks Sharon lived under drug control.
According to Sharon's father, Gui Kan only visited the hospital once, and also showed off to the police that "it is very common for students to fall in love with me", and after a verbal argument with Sharon's family, he said that he would leave.
After Sharon was brought back to the United States by her parents, Gui Kan wrote her a "clarification" email: "My love is limited, we can only share the creation on stage. ”
(Where Sharon lived in Copenhagen)
Sharon, who returned to her family, experienced as many as ten panic attacks in three weeks. But just two days before she finally agreed to see a doctor, Gui Kan's email and video call came again. He said in the email that he did not believe Sharon was ill, asked her to leave the United States to meet him in Thailand, and bought her a plane ticket to send it over.
Brainwashed for so many years, the delirious Sharon really escaped and flew to Thailand. However, when Gui Kan saw Sharon in bad condition at the airport, he directly abandoned her and bought a ticket on the spot to send her back to San Francisco.
Her doctors, family, and lawyers all warned Gui Kan not to contact again, but never succeeded. Later, Sharon's father found out that in the years that the two had known each other, Sharon had stolen at least thirty thousand DOLLARs from the family to Gui Kan, including after her mental breakdown, Gui Kan was still asking for money.
For seven months, from September 2011 to April 2012, Sharon was admitted to a mental hospital by her parents, either trying to commit suicide or trying to escape. In February 2012, when she fled to San Francisco again to see Gui Kan, she had another panic attack.
Gui Kan said in an email to Sharon's parents: "Why did you let her run to San Francisco?" She had nothing to do with me. In order to get rid of Sharon, Gui Kan threw her on the streets of San Francisco and later announced that she would be expelled from the dance troupe and tour.
Sharon, who had given everything, entered a state of madness at this time.
On April 17, 2012, she wrote an email to Gui Kan, asking him if the dance is to destroy a person's body and self, but what about after the destruction? What is the answer?
On April 23, she wrote again: "Love you and thank you for your guidance, including the wrong ones." If only I knew how to do it, you were my angel. ”
Gui Kan replied: "Dear Sharon, I hope you are all right and there is no escape." I think you've taught a good lesson to Brazilian students. Continuing your quest in another world is certainly better than in the United States. Kiss, Gui Kan. ”
Gui Kan had no sympathy, suggesting that the email wishing her suicide was a straw that overwhelmed Sharon. Two days later, on April 25, 2012, Sharon committed suicide at the age of 33.
Sharon's angry family, over the next seven years, engaged in a lengthy lawsuit, arguing that Gui Kan was responsible for Sharon's death.
After hiding for a year, Gui Kan finally agreed to file a lawsuit in Florida, but because of the high legal fees, he decided to appear in court remotely. He repeatedly insisted that he was innocent, providing an email between Sharon and him, going so far as to say "I have the skills of not allowing others to attach to me, but admiring me".
During a telephone trial in 2017, when Sharon's father's lawyer asked him why he had thrown the mentally broken Sharon on the streets of San Francisco, Gui kan replied, "Why are you lying?" You were supposed to be the one to protect your own daughter, not me. ”
Sharon's father was furious: "You are so deeply manipulating my daughter's spirit that we can't do anything to get rid of you." This is a cult! Privately, Gui Kan once tried to use $3,000 in compensation to get Sharon's parents to give up.
In March 2019, a Florida judge ruled that Gui Kan was responsible, but Sharon's parents waived their claims, saying that they were fighting the lawsuit only to give people who were deeply involved in similar teacher-apprentice violence and cult manipulation a sense of protection and escape as soon as possible.
Despite being convicted in the United States, Gui Kan was not subject to criminal punishment, and during and after the proceedings, he was still active in the dance world, and even performed lectures in China. Everything, as if it had never happened.
After reading Sharon's story, some netizens believe that she herself has responsibilities. Adults, who are responsible for their own choices, and think that her parents have protected her too well, unworldly, and especially stupid.
"God, I see only perverts when I see him. What did she see in him? ”
There are also those who feel that the school should be held accountable:
"Shouldn't schools be held accountable for allowing this demon that affects students?" Parents need to teach their children insight! Poor family, her father chose to find a teacher to settle the account, well done! ”
"Psychological manipulation is terrible."
"Tragedy. She really danced with the devil. ”
Why are people who are protected and raised to be condemned after being victimized for not being "perfect victims"?
In a closed relationship that is unequal from the start, depriving a person of her ego, severing her ties to her family, controlling her words and deeds with drugs, and stealing her money.
In the name of art, learning, and cultivation, the fact of physical and mental violence plunges her into the swamp of sexual assault and abuse, which makes a person with a good family education background and independent consciousness completely collapse...
As the netizen said: "There are people in the world who come to devour your soul." They are the embodiment of demons and darkness. ”