Presentation at National Dance Education Conference: " Liminality and Corporal Transcendance"

Saturday

October 4, 8-9:10 am

Detroit, MI

In a socio-political climate bound by urgency to reach a state of “arrival”, butoh movement methodologies contradict the value of destistation in favor of the journey. This session will activate a collective exploration of what it means to surrender to the senses, the body, and the moment. Often used to illuminate the essence of this state, “ma” guides the body into indeterminate time. The emphasis shifts from product to process, nurturing the present moment and the whole essence of being. The body eventually ceases to instigate it’s own movement and allows itself to be moved. This session will also draw upon Noguchi-taiso- which informs the foundations of butoh, as we explore gentle conversations with gravity and the water within us.

Teaching Open Butoh Class

for New York Butoh Institute/Vangeline Theater

Sunday, October 12 from 5-7 pm

115 Wooster Street

New York, NY 10012

Drawing upon personal performance practice and eco-somatics, these classes will explore butoh rooted in ephemerality, memory and collective consciousness. Through visuals of transience and disappearance the body will expand upon itself guided by reaching towards past selves, situated through the sensorial breath individually and collectively. As we travel through time, we evade it. Come join and explore this methodology with any level of experience.

Facilitating "Interbeing": Butoh/Contact Improvisation Classes

Saturdays

October 18, from 12-3 pm

November 1, from 1-4 pm

at Kestrels

188 6th St.

Brooklyn, NY

These open classes, entitled "Interbeing", facilitated by Eilish Henderson will act as a continuing inquiry into the ways in which we can approach contact improvisation from a butoh lens. The essence of our being is interbeing- with eternal and necessary threads connecting us to the land, rivers, and one another. Grounded in the notions of the body as water vessels, these classes will act as a supportive movement practice that engages a deep sense of listening-prioritizing care, slowness, and awareness of gravity in moments of contact. Each session will be distinct and informed by those present.

The flow will look something like this: arrival/grounding, several guided exercises with images/textures, open jam/improvisation, and a closing. No prior experience with butoh or contact improvisation is necessary.

Fee Structure:

$15-35 sliding scale