Echoes
with Yumino Seki
Butoh longs to re-encounter our long lost innate self.
Artist Development
14 - 18 August, 11AM-5PM - £250
This 5 day workshop is especially designed for physical theatre practitioners to develop their ideas and skills through Butoh training.
‘Our bodies are tamed like domesticated animals.’
(Tatsumi Hijikata, a founder of Ankoku Butoh).
Butoh longs to re-encounter our long lost innate self.
舞踏, Butoh is a form of Japanese avant-garde dance which emerged from the post war chaos in Japan in the late 50s when the country grappled by the clash between new
Western technology and traditional Japanese values. Butoh became a new form of expression, neither an imitation of Western culture nor a traditional Japanese cultural practice. Butoh was called ‘the dance of darkness’. Influenced by German Expressionism, self-identity was radically explored with bodily expression.
Butoh proposes culturally diverse ways of seeing such as cycle of life & death;
Ma (in between space which applies to both time & space),
Wabi (humbleness/simplicity),
Sabi (process of decay) and praise of shadow.
Experiential anatomy drawn from somatic practice helps us elicit details and a depth of expression, from robust muscular action to subtle cellular presence in micro movement.
Somatic is the study of a ‘person’ as a living functional body. Integrating the body, mind and emotion whilst using movement as the main exploratory tool. Shifting attention from ‘action’ to ‘active listening’ and through attentive touch our perception will be enhanced. We become aware of our physical body. Through this process a subtle flow of feeling and sensation may unfold.
Using this sensory feedback and Butoh’s perspective as guidance we will explore Butoh’s unique visceral & complex expression. Creating the neutral body as an empty vehicle the transformative and transient nature of the body will be rigorously investigated, where process becomes the work itself. Aiming to embody sensation and imagery in movement. Be attentive, curious and playful.
Working in groups, pairs and individuals in both dynamic and quiet practice the workshop
will be guided by imagery based improvisations with music. The training includes Japanese traditional centre of gravity, spatial awareness, modification of weight, stillness, somatic bodywork and the simple yet profound motion of walking. At the end of the workshop participants will be collaboratively devising an informal
performance.
The workshop will include Butoh’s brief historical background and discussion over Butoh and European physical theatre.
Butoh sees dance as a living process and it pushes the boundaries of what we already know.
‘My work starts from trust; trusting that the body has its own intelligence & experience. Not moving but being moved. Raw yet subtle, meditative yet self-destructive, stark yet sensual. Conflict and harmony co-exist in an ambiguous way. I explore and reflect the inner self where the body becomes mere ‘being’ and where a point of transformation occurs’.
Yumino.
Yumino Seki is a Japanese dance artist, Butoh practitioner and qualified somatic
movement educator who performs, teaches and collaborates to make performances. She
was born in Japan and has trained in both classical and contemporary dance.
Between 1999 and 2009 she performed in Butoh predominately with Tadashi Endo (Mamu
Dance Theatre), Yumiko Yoshioka (Ten-Pen-Chii) both in Germany and Carlotta Ikeda
(Ariadone) in France. In 2007 started VMI Somatic Practice with Patricia Bardi in
Amsterdam, Netherlands.
She has been interested in the authenticity of the temporal body for many years resulting
in many pieces, which are site responsive and improvised in nature. Collaborating with
artists from diverse disciplines has given her a broad approach to her movement practice.
Since 2012 on the completion of VMI Somatic Practice she has been developing her Butoh
and somatic work.
Her work crosses the boundaries of dance, performance art, installation and ritual. Her
work has been presented in many different contexts from art gallery, theatre, shop front,
private house, festival to nature. She has directed group choreography with cross-
discipline and site-specific performances both indoors and outdoors. Key funders and
commissioners include Arts Council England, The Japan Foundation, Cairo, Japan
Society, Chisenhale Dance Space, Hastings Borough Council and many more.
She collaborative work includes dance, theatre, music, film and visual art as live
exhibitions artists including Andrew Kötting (film maker) and Zadie Xa (visual artist) at The
National Gallery, London, 58th Venice Biennale, Art Night London, Dance International
Glasgow & Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
She teaches professional, educational and community settings with all ages and abilities
including adults with learning disabilities. She is a guest artist at Butoh Brighton, Butoh
UK, Mountview and Felingnole Woodland Retreat, Wales. She taught at South Coast
College Hastings, Buck's New University, London Metropolitan University, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Independent Dance and many more.
Participating in the Butoh workshop will be an intense and transformative experience, challenging you to question mortality, reconnect with your innate self, and push the boundaries of your creative practice.
Register below, as places are limited and fill up fast.