In Butoh, it’s OK not to be able to step 1,2,3 and skip and jump!
Your breathing is your dance, your hiccup is your dance and even changing the light bulb can become your beautiful dancing routine! A dance can begin from where you are sitting on a chair, or lying down in bed….
Step inside the playful and imaginative world of Japanese Butoh while peeping and seeking for your own New Ab/Normal. This is a fun and introductory workshop, introducing Butoh in a playful and family-friendly way.
Yumi Yumiumare, the workshop facilitator says,
“I started Butoh over 30 years ago, after learning classical ballet and creative dance and one of my first experiences in the Butoh workshop was a shock. Students were encouraged to dance with twisted body, rolled eyes and opened mouth while their saliva was dripping. I felt slightly scared but at the same time, I identified an unknown joy and indescribable sense of freedom. It was the first time I noticed that the qualities of oddness, quirkiness and discordance were keys to get to a creative truth.”
Butoh is known to go against the grain….so is Butoh abnormal?
Butoh certainly encourages the dancer to break the rhythm and not to follow the music. Dissonance is appreciated, and even ugliness and perversity become nutrients. During this Corona era, when it is difficult for us to understand exactly what is normal and not normal, Butoh is spreading all over the world being as ’elusive’ and unpredictable as the virus.
This workshop leads you to search for something …indescribable and yet something internally provocative, tantalising and thrilling. Through this unique, interdisciplinary combination of Butoh, voice, and visual arts, this trio of oddball experts, Yumi Umiumare (Butoh), Emma Bathgate(voice) and Jacqui Stockdale (visual arts/mask/ collage) will facilitate a dive into the unexpected wonders of a world in which anything is possible….
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