The workshop is a 3 hour sampler of major motifs seen in butoh. Butoh is a Japanese dance form that began as a reaction to a post-World War II-stricken Japan. Underground Japan desired a new dance form mirroring the times and a dance they could claim as their own. What spawned about was a rebellious form of movement which widens the sphere of what could be considered dance. The key motivator of the movement is one’s own darkness (shadows, hangups, Jungian repressions), so inherently, the dance transcends mere entertainment value and establishes itself as a dance for the psyche itself.
Despite how novel butoh appears, the art form can derive heavy influences from both Japanese Noh theater and German expressionist dance. The style has also influenced music videos and film, especially J-horror e.g. The Ring.
Workshop attendees are invited to stay and observe a Butoh performance at 5pm of dEGOnstruction.
Adam Koan is a Butoh performer determined to spread the obscure and oftentimes grotesque art that penetrates deep into the psyche-body connection. He is a classically trained dancer and studied butoh in the Indian Himalayas at the Subbody School of Butoh with Rhizome Lee.
Cher is a self-taught experimental vocalist and faux percussionist who utilizes wordless vocalizations (extended vocal technique), free movement, as well as natural and found materials (metal scraps, driftwood, aluminum bowls, etc).
What is Butoh?
Butoh is a Japanese dance form that began as a reaction to a post-World War II-stricken Japan. Underground Japan desired a new dance form mirroring the times and a dance they could claim as their own. What spawned about was a rebellious form of movement which widens the sphere of what could be considered dance. The key motivator of the movement is one’s own darkness (shadows, hangups, Jungian repressions), so inherently, the dance transcends mere entertainment value and establishes itself as a dance for the psyche itself.
Despite how novel butoh appears, the art form can show itself deriving heavy influences from both Japanese Noh theater and German expressionist dance.
The founders Kazuo Ohno and Tatsumi Hijikata have both passed on, but the spirit of butoh remains and continues to reach the intrigue of curious souls that identify the universal nature of the dance. shadowbody is one such entity that will keep the flame of butoh lit. Along with expressing individual shadows, my butoh is an expression of shadows far-extending my own body, for it includes themes such as the shadows of environmental and humanitarian exploitation and negligence.
