February 2 - 6
Uiko Watanabe
A broken mirror at the bottom of the swamp reflects the truth.
First of all, Butoh does not have a method like classical ballet or other western dances. Therefore, it is a dance that has no correct answers and no need to imitate others.
The first part of my workshop focuses on physical training.
Butoh is not a slow-motion dance, neither is it a dance of moods, but it is a way to embody your imaginations through your body. Therefore, it is not only about the imagination (head) or just a well-moving body, but both are necessary.
In some of the improvisations I will propose, you will mimic things that you know well and that are familiar to you. Then you dance with the body that is not yours. I think imaginations are different for children and adults. We have an imagination that comes from growing up and having more experiences, and an imagination that we believe in without question.
They are so different for each of you, and that is the beginning of your own Butoh.
Butoh has a certain beauty that is different from Western dances. It is imperfection, danger, fragility, and the loneliness of the final moments of a life ending. What’s been on my mind lately is how to present the dance itself, rather than myself. A hypothetical self-abandonment—that is, losing the subject.
Japanese traditional performing arts completely erase the self to stand on stage. Japanese almost never uses subjects when spoken.
Losing my name, I want to become only the dance.
This differs greatly from Western self-expression. I’m still very much a beginner myself, and this workshop is for us all to experiment and learn together.
