BUTOHOUT! 2021
New Ab/Normal
The 5th iteration of ButohOUT!, a collection of events inspired by the dance theatre artform of Butoh, explores the artistic theme New Ab/Normal during the post-pandemic era with the question: what is normal?
Originally called Dance of Darkness, Butoh has always been associated with the marginalised, embracing the abnormal, odd, quirky & the deviant. One of the first Butoh performances so shocked its Japanese audiences that it was forced to go underground, yet now it is accepted as an innovative art form. Conversely, what we used to think as ‘normal’ is no longer so. Instead, the term, 'new normal' exists, which contains the paradoxical nuance that an abnormality can become ‘normal’. We hang onto a semblance of normalcy like a security blanket - but why?
ButohOUT! 2021 offers 5 public workshops including one for children and seniors, a performance-making laboratory, a forum and 2 performance presentations, one at Dancehouse and Abbotsford Convent.