THE NEW YORK BUTOH INSTITUTE IS PROUD TO PUBLISH ITS FIRST BOOK AUTHORED BY VANGELINE
The New York Butoh Institute
Presents
BUTOH: CRADLING EMPTY SPACE
A NONFICTION BOOK WRITTEN
BY
VANGELINE
NOW AVAILABLE ON
Vangeline.com
“Butoh: Cradling Empty Space is a handbook for the butoh practitioner, the (art) historian, the dance critic, and the curious reader. Encompassing, and reconciling, problems of movement, gender, race, and universality, Cradling Empty Space guides the reader through the many possibilities of butoh.
”
“Butoh: Cradling Empty Space, a remarkable new volume by French-American teacher, dancer, and choreographer Vangeline, is the perfect introduction to a dance form that emerged in Japan after World War II, the result of cross-pollination between Western art forms and Japanese artists....is at once mysterious and clear, scientific and poetic, scholarly and journalistic, psychological and esthetic. Vangeline’s a terrific writer, and the book is well-edited...Her book is full of graphs, charts, and wonderful photographs.”
RECOMMENDED BY NICHOLE GOULD at PICTURE THIS POST:
““Butoh: Cradling Empty Space is a great fit for anyone looking to learn more about the brain and the dance form of butoh. In addition to photographs, Butoh: Cradling Empty Space includes many diagrams and other visual aids to help illustrate and describe the scientific phenomenon of butoh. We especially learn how the form strives to bring science and art together. The book covers topics such as consciousness, brain waves, information processing, action potential, stimulus, muscle awareness, and more. Additionally, Vangeline explains what she means by the phrase in the title —cradling empty space. You too—even non-butoh dancer or non-dancer — may find yourself inspired by the book’s information about the brain to want to learn more and apply these learnings to daily life.”
January 12, 2021 by Nichole Gould–Picture This Post”
Recommended by Electronic Link Journey
“Vangeline has created a book that is both scholarly and engaging...This is a true classic.”
“Vangeline carefully connects theory and practice to illustrate the technical complexities and multidimensional sociocultural landscape of butoh. Vangeline’s analysis of butoh—an avant-garde “dance of darkness”—layers together a sweeping amount of research approaches. Equal parts historical account, feminist critique, critical race theory, and scientific and phenomenological study, this is not just a how-to handbook (although those practical parts are present too).”
Butoh: Cradling Empty Space is now available:
ONE OF THE TOP THREE BOOKS SELECTED BY DEBORAH MILLER (Outer Critics Circle, Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre, Stage Magazine, DC Metro Theater Arts on Oct 23, 2020)
Approaching the avant-garde Japanese performance art form of butoh from a cross-cultural, gender studies, and scientific perspective, award-winning artist and teacher Vangeline brings a fresh look at this postmodern dance form.
Butoh, a performance art form that grew out of the Japanese avant-garde scene of the 1950s, has traveled from east to west over the last 60 years, growing in popularity as it evolves. With origins in modern dance, French mime, and the surrealist movement, this fascinating postmodern dance genre is often thought of as mysterious and is frequently misunderstood. Through twenty years of research, interviews with some of the world’s top practitioners, historical documents, and rare photographs, Vangeline shines a light on this “dance of darkness.”
New revelations include the under-represented role of women in the development of the form, the connection between butoh and neuroscience, and the cross-cultural perspective of international influences on the evolution of the dance. Butoh: Cradling Empty Space will appeal to dance students, teachers, performance art scholars, movers, and anyone interested in choreography, theater, and Japanese history, culture and art.
The book includes rare photographs, helpful graphics, a detailed bibliography and footnotes, and resources for additional information.
Butoh: Cradling Empty Space is also available internationally at:
ISBN INFO:
Amazon KDP Paperback 978-1-7357660-1-0
Amazon KDP Ebook 978-1-7357660-2-7
Other retailers:
Paperback 978-1-7357660-3-4
Ebook 978-1-7357660-3-4
Vangeline is a teacher, dancer, and award-winning choreographer specializing in the Japanese avant-garde movement form butoh. She is the artistic director of the Vangeline Theater/ New York Butoh Institute and the founder of the 14-year running, award-winning program “Dream a Dream Project,” which brings butoh dance to incarcerated men and women at correctional facilities across New York State. She specializes in trauma-informed butoh classes and is a member of the International Association for Dance Medicine. www.vangeline.com
Cover photograph: Yoko Ahikawa by Eikoh Hosoe
The winners of book giveaway will announced live.
More info coming soon here.
Book cover photo by Eikoh Hosoe.