ButohOUT! 2019
Forbidden Laughter

Forbidden Laughter

ButohOUT! 2019 is a festival to celebrate creative communities in Victoria and beyond through the profound performance art medium of Butoh. Originally called Dance of Darkness, Butoh was conceived in Japan in the late 50’s and early 60’s, during the social turmoil after the war.

Co-produced by Japanese-Australian artists Yumi Umiumare and Takashi Takiguchi, ButohOUT! 2019 will challenge the commonly held conception of Butoh as dark and grotesque and ask:

“Can the audience laugh at Butoh?”,

“Can we do comedy in Butoh?”

The word for laughter in Japanese, warau笑う comes from the verb wareru 割れる- to break, crack or split. Multiple images, body movements and narratives are created through the focal point of ‘laughing’. The surreal narratives are woven between the short works, through a mixture of the sacred and the carnal, the earthly and the divine, the contemporary and the mythic, Eastern and Western sensibilities in a contemporary Australian set up.

In partnership with Abbotsford Convent Foundation, the two-month program consisting of public workshops, performance and discussion groups will run between March and May 2019. Following successful festivals in 2017 and 2018, ButohOUT! 2019, with the theme ‘Forbidden Laughter’, will focus on surreal comedy from multi-disciplinary performance mediums including Butoh, Cabaret, Bouffon, Burlesque, Physical Theatre and visual installations.

February
2019

Production Team

Artistic Direction / Yumi Umiumare
Producer / Takashi Takiguchi
Dramaturg / Maude Davey
Visual Installation / Pimpisa Tinpalit
Sound Design / Dan West
Lighting design / Bronwyn Pringle
Stage Management / Jacob Shears
Choreography / Yumi Umiumare
Front of House Co-ordinator / Kei Murakami

Video documentation / Takeshi Kondo
Photography / Vikk Shayen
Graphic Design / Miffra Leeys
Publicity/ Diana Wolfe
Web Design & Development /Takashi Takiguchi

Performers

Maude Davey
Weave Movement Theatre
Willow J Conway
Yumi Umiumare
Zya Kane
&
BUTOHOUT Ensemble
Andrea Reichert, Alex Rouse,
David Blom, James Curtin, Justas Pipinis, Kiki Ando, Lukas Penney, Monika Benova, Mireille Stahle, Pauline Sherlock, Tomoko Yamasaki, Takashi Takiguchi and Zi Largiader

Forbidden Laughter - Excerpt

Partnership and Support

ButohOUT! Festival 2019 is supported by Creative Victoria continuously since its inception in 2017. With a new partnership with Abbotsford Convent Foundation since 2018, ButohOUT! Festival aims to activate the multicultural local communities in Melbourne through the powerful and versatile dance form of Butoh.

> Abbotsford Convent Foundation
> Creative Victoria
> ImPermanence Productions
> Arts Access Victoria
> Weave Movement Theatre

Volunteer with many thanks

Administration Support / Anna White
Photography / Lukas Penney