Butoh: The Crucible of Body and Mind

with Vangeline

hosted by Zen Mountain Monastery

January 16, 2021

10am-12pm and 1:30-4pm

How comfortable can we allow ourselves to be in our bodies? How deeply are we willing to plumb our own depths, to reveal our true face in the mirror? Developed in post-World War II  Japan, butoh is a performance form characterized by a deep investigation of impermanence, authentic expression, and letting go. Butoh as a body practice is about “revealing” rather than “showing”. In the same way that we reveal the mind to ourselves through single-pointed concentration in zazen, in butoh we reveal our mind through attention in the body. So we can take this practice as a wonderful opportunity to practice concentration, regardless of our surrounding circumstances.

Zen practitioners often feel a real sense of support by sitting together in the zendo. We can also understand butoh is born from exchange and communal work. Because butoh is not about “showing” it is also not about judging what we’ve been shown. Together in the movement led by acclaimed butoh performer Vangeline, participants will experience opportunity for great opening.

Vangeline’s butoh classes incorporate Japanese butoh, elements of Noguchi gymnastics, and guided imagery to offer a high-energy workshop adapted to each group’s level of physical fitness.

Your registration confirmation will include a link to the Zoom session.

Suggested donation – $10.00 - $150.00

Contact:
Registrar
registrar@dharma.net
(845)-688-2228

Vangeline draws on 18 years of experience as a Butoh teacher and dancer, and has 35 years of expertise in the field of dance. She is the author of the critically acclaimed book of non-fiction Butoh: Cradling Empty Space. Vangeline is a 2018 NYFA/ NYSCA Artist Fellow in Choreography, the winner of the 2015 Gibney Dance's Beth Silverman-Yam Social Action Award, and the founder of the 15-year running, award-winning program “Dream a Dream Project", which brings Butoh dance to incarcerated men and women at correctional facilities across New York City.

She is a member of the International Association for Dance Medicine. She teaches trauma-informed Butoh classes.
 

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.