Vanessa Skantze Assisted by Alex Haverfield
September 4th, 6th, 11th, 13th, 18th, 20th, 25th, 27th
Performance on September 28th

Butoh workshops Monday and Wednesday nights in September
taught by Vanessa Skantze with Alex Haverfield
Monday classes will focus on physical sensitivity/possibility. Moving with energy patterns-- spirals, waves, the motion of bones -- in kinship with breath/voice deepens awareness of the unique kinesthetic language of each dancer. Work with partners creates extremities of balance, sensitivity and tension -- bringing dancers to the threshold of the unknown where one is a vulnerable, naked creature.

Wednesdays will explore the unique and harrowing beauty of butoh improvisation with the musicians who will be creating soundscapes for the classes. We will catalyse natural ability to move/vocalize in a ritual opening of body and spirit to what comes through the sound as it pierces, and embraces us.The willing dancer is a subtle instrument sculpting kinesis and feeling in response.

Vanessa Skantze is a multidisciplinary artist whose work embraces butoh dance, voice, percussion, writing and spoken word performance, and metal and stone sculpture. She has practiced and taught butoh dance since 2001 when she co-founded the ensemble Death Posture in New Orleans. She arrived in Seattle in 2004 and collaborates with local dancers and musicians frequently. Both Vanessa and Alex study and perform with Jinen Butoh founder Atsushi Takenouchi. Jinen dances the manifestation of the universal nervous system, the interwoven cycle of life and death, time and space.

 

 

Douglas Ridings
October 2nd, 4th, 9th, 11th, 16th, 18th, 23rd, 25th
Performance on October 28th

Butoh workshops Monday and Wednesday nights in October
taught by Douglas Ridings

Ridings has trained and performed with Katsura Kan(SALTAMBIQUES), Joan Laage (DAPPIN BUTOH), Kathleen Hunt(SAMADHI YOGINIS), P.A.N, Dr. Ratna Roy (URVASI) and many others. During the month of October 2006 he will lead a series of butoh classes which will culminate in a performance on Saturday, October 28th. Classes will be held Monday and Wednesday evenings from 7-9pm. Though open to all levels of experience and ability, vigorous physical training should be expected.

Performance, will be entitled SAVIORESS OF THE CEMETERY. Contact 206.850.5390

 

 

Haruko Nishimura
November 6th, 8th, 13th, 15th, 20th, 22nd, 27th, 29th
Dress rehearsal on December 6th
Performance on December 7th (1st Thursday)

Butoh workshops Monday and Wednesday nights in November
taught by Haruko Nishimura

Haruko's teaching stems from many years of her own outrageous and unique explorations in dance and theater and are influenced by her study of noguchi gymnastics, Tadashi Suzuki's Physical theater and many years of private study in Butoh with Shinichi Momo Koga, Minako Seki, and Yumiko Yoshioka among others.

This class will emphasize going beyond the external by finding specific ways of embodying dance, imagery, and our often undiscovered limitless energy hidden inside us, and its journeys. Images mined from our imagination and physical memory become tools in our explorations of body states,movement, and choregraphic process.

Since co-founding Degenerate Art Ensemble (formerly The Young Composers Collective) in 1993, Haruko has produced a consistent stream of original and adventurous works combining physical theater and butoh dance with live experimental music. Many of these pieces are large scale works involving up to 5-15 performers and the Degenerate Art Ensemble's 10-17 piece orchestra. Haruko's choreographed works have been commissioned by On The Boards, City, County and State Arts Commissions, as well as a number of private foundations and have appeared in ten countries.

dk pan and Sheri Brown
January 3rd, 8th, 10th, 15th, 17th, 22nd, 24th, 29th
Dress rehearsal on January 31st
Performance on February 1st (1st Thursday)

Butoh workshops Monday and Wednesday nights in January
taught by dk pan and Sheri Brown

In January, Sheri and dk will focus on partnering & body relations, transformation & metamorphosis utilizing meditations on the body- its motions and motivations, presence and physicality as they relate to self, space, and 'other'. Body architecture and 'light weaving' will also play major roles in the course, as well as seeding the new year.

Sheri Brown has performed extensively both as a solo artist and as a core member of the butoh-inspired troupe P.A.N., where she began working with dk pan in 2001. Sheri holds a BA in Theatre from Arizona State University and a Master's in Education from the University of Hawaii; her Butoh teachers include: Shinichi Momo Koga, Akira Kasai, Joan Laage,Su-En, Minako Seki, Katsura Kan,Diego Pinon, Jay Hirobashi, Yoshito Ohno, Kota Yamazaki.

dk pan was born in Seoul, Korea (1972), moved to the US in 1976 with his family. His mother was born in Pyoungyang and his father was born in Seoul. dk works in the fields of performance, installation art, and media. He has performed throughout Europe, Japan, South Korea, and US, presenting solo works as well as with music & performance groups - Degenerate Art Ensemble and the Infernal Noise Brigade. His work has been supported by a number of government and foundation grants. In 1999, he co-founded an art & performance group, P.A.N., which has produced over 30 original works for theater, galleries, museums, festivals, and site-specific installations.

 

 

Alan Sutherland and Helen Thorsen
February 5th, 7th, 12th, 14th, 19th, 21st, 26th, 28th
Performance on March 1st (1st Thursday)

Butoh workshops Monday and Wednesday nights in February
taught by Alan Sutherland and Helen Thorsen

The focus of this series of classes will be Rupture/Rapture. Emphasizing image based movement, we will explore common assumptions of what Butoh is and seek to distill its essence for individual use. Using the basic physical and spiritual principles of butoh such as: acceptance, clarity, nature, imagery, alignment, poetry, stillness, meditation, and rhythm as tools, we access and develop the integrity of one's creative process .

Alan Sutherland began his dancing career in the mid 80's. Through Helen Thorsen he was introduced to butoh in the early 90's and began studying and performing it in 1995. He has danced with Dappin Butoh, the Degenerate Art Ensemble, lowcrawlershighflying, and PAN. He has shown solo work in New York, Philadelphia, and extensively in Seattle. He has taught butoh since 2001.

Helen Thorsen, has a BA in dance from Columbia College, with a background in contemporary dance, dance therapy, and counseling, began the study of butoh dance in the early 80's with a workshop with New York choreographers Eiko and Komo (former student of Ohno) . She was a founding member of Dappin' Butoh from '93 to '02. She is co-founder of the dance company Lastleg into Flightime. Her choreography, much of which is site-specific to outdoor locations, has been seen since the 80's in Seattle venues around Seattle.