The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur and Nyoba Dance+ will cordially announce “Butoh Workshop by Ko Murobushi.” Mr. Murobushi is a leading Japanese Butoh Dancer and working for collaborative piece with Nyoba Dance+ for a month here in Kuala Lumpur to present it at Malaysian Dance Festival. Their performance is scheduled from 29th June to 1st July, at KL-PAC. To make use of this precious opportunity, we would like to hold Butoh Workshop as below.
Date : 18th June, Saturday 3:00pm-6:00pm
19th June, Sunday 10:00am-1:00pm *Total: 6hours work shop
Venue : MCPA Theatre in Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Jalan Maharajarela
Fee : RM80, RM60 (MyDance Alliance or JFKL member, Students) for two days
This W.S. is for whom?
Since the workshop will be introductory, anyone is welcomed to participate. Especially for; Theatre practitioner, Dancer and anyone who wants more freedom for his/her body and minc.
– Contents: (It might be difficult to cover all following items for total 6 hours.)
1) Breath. Breath and its transformations, differences and combinations of breathing “forms”. Freeing a voice from the gorge.
2) Walking. Who walks? Coming from where and going where? Are we able to imagine “walking without feet”?
3) Touch the earth, jump, dance: the terms “tamafuri” and “tamashizume”.
4) Movements of the 8. The 8 starts half ways, it stops half ways – no beginning, no end – in the inside there is the outside, on the outside the inside. One and the other cross each other, get mixed up. The Moebius Loop, asymmetrical spirals.
5) Future: future of the animal, of the plants, of the minerals passing. Becoming a corpse, fluid, solid, gas. Learning transmissions and transformations.
6) Improvisations. Form sneaking into the act. An interval, trembling, shifting. Breaking down, all in the same moment. Suffering, vibrations, coagulation, relaxation, convulsions towards humour.
Application and Inquiry: Lee Swee Keong 019-3599262, Caesar Chong:012-3669256
What is “Butoh”?
Butoh is a contemporary avant-garde dance form, which originated in Japan and which was first performed there in 1959. It combines dance, theater, improvisation and influences of Japanese traditional performing arts with German Expressionist dance (Neue Tanz) and performance art to create a unique performing art form that is both controversial and universal in its expression. It has evolved to become an international art form with artists and groups devoted to teaching and performing it in East and South-East Asia, North and South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii.
Dance festivals have featured performances by Butoh artists since the 1960s, but more recently festivals have been held which are exclusively devoted to Butoh.
(Quotation from “http://www.butoh.net/”)
Profile of Instructor
Ko Murobushi is one of the most acclaimed Butoh artists of our times. 1959 Butoh was proclaimed by Tatsumi Hijikata, and already in 1968 young Murobushi studied and danced with him. Later on he moved to Paris. Since then his nomadic artistic life has led and still leads him to nearly all continents regularly, India, Brazil, Mexico, Great Britain, back to Japan…. repeatedly to Vienna , and Malaysia. Ms. Kuroda, choreographer of BATIK, is a big fan of Ko-san.
Ko Murobushi URL “http://www.murobushi.com/
Review
By Tatsuro Ishii , Professor of Keio University
“15 years has passed Tatsumi Hijikata has died.”
15 years has passed since the founder of Butoh, Tatsumi HIJIKATA has died. Butoh was afraid to be declined after his death, however, on the contrary to the anxious, Butoh became popular not only in Japan but also abroad. The interest to Butoh is increasing still now. Butoh was born from the earth of Japan truly and nobody can deny that Butoh is an internationally influential unique physical expression.
On the other hand, the state of Butoh in contemporary Japan is not healthy at all. The essence of Butoh has lost, but only the “Butoh style” is going on by inertia. Ko Murobushi is the only and unique Butoh dancer who makes sharp cleft to the situation. Ko Murobushi has awaked serious numbers of Butoh dancers towards the starting point and the essence of Butoh.”
