Cancelled! Butoh workshop with Deborah Butler

Butoh emerged as a subversive dance and performing art in the late 1950’s in Japan.  The founders of Ankoku Butoh (translated as the dance of utter darkness) and then called only Butoh, Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo, collaborated with other artists, creating two unique and contrasting lineages of butoh. Butoh has traditionally been defined by its slow and meditative movement quality and exploration and embodiment of absurd, hidden, dark, erotic and nature-based imagery to create haunting and ephemeral dance choreography.

This 90 minute workshop will introduce students to common principles and practices in Butoh training and supports the emergence of one’s own dance through somatic and imagistic exercises. No experience required. 

Deborah Butler/Kitsunebutoh has been a student, performer and teacher in the Butoh genre for nearly 30 years. She has extensive training with Diego Pinon, Doranne Crable, Akira Kasai, Yumiko Yoshoika, Su-En, Vangeline, Natsu Nakajima, Maureen Fleming, Joan Laage, among others. Deborah’s  choreographed work has been performed nationally and internationally from the San Francisco Butoh Festival, the Somerville ArtBeat Festival,  and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland). Deborah currently resides in Storrs, CT and is a licensed practicing Marital and Family Therapist at UCFS (ChildFirst) and in private practice.