Following a brief survey of the anthropology of the body, the article addresses reflections on the body in connection with social structure and emphasises the special attitude to the body that has developed in Japan. Through an analysis of dance and the meaning of dance as a method of non-verbal communication, it attempts to shed light on the causes and effects of the butoh phenomenon in Japan. Special emphasis in this article is therefore given to the perception of the body, that is the butoh body - the actual foundation of butoh expression and aesthetics. Butoh, which is classified neither as dance nor as theatre, is then associated with performance, whose origin may be found in rituals, and as such it is a reflection of social structure.