Butoh: A Dance for Me

I learned and studied ballet from 5 yrs-12 yrs old. Then modern dance all through high school.  I loved modern because it broke ballet's rules.  Then towards the end of the college, I drew my attention to more contemporary forms of dance/movement such as butoh.  This is when I discovered this other element to dance.  For years, I felt I was always dancing for others and never for myself.  Butoh taught me that the dance can be for yourself.  A deeper part of you showing itself, while the audience takes it in their way.  It still can be for others, but it really does start within.  This should be for any dance technique out there.  I guess, for me, when I danced in high school, for example, it was always a competition, because it literally was! I was on a dance team and we competed throughout the state and country.  We even went to international festivals.  Also, your teachers also make a difference too. I loved my teacher in high school, but it was the butoh teachers who really showed me these other elements.  We would take an object, image, or feeling and make that the dance. Sometimes it became personal (whether you intended it to be or not) and a lot of healing would come out it. 

I'm not going to write an essay about butoh.  I find it very difficult to "write" about it.  You have to see it or experience it for yourself.  It's a different experience for everyone.  The late, founder of butoh, Kazuo Ohno stated butoh as, "not thinking. only soul."  He said it all there.

I've worked with many dancers who use somatic studies with butoh.  It really is a way to embody your emotions, traumas, life experiences, etc. For example, it's amazing to work with dreams.  In my recent performance, I used an image from a dream I had three weeks ago.  Since my piece was about women's moon cycles, the dream image I incorporated was my IUD falling out of me.  I know this can be grotesque and uncomfortable for some to imagine, but the dream was so vivid for me at the time, I had to use it in my piece.  For awhile, I haven't really accepted/welcomed the IUD into my body. Back in January, an ultrasound showed the lining in my uterus had a very large thickening,, which caused excessive bleeding, causing anemia.  My doctor wanted to remove the thickening (surgically) and thin it out with an IUD or the pill. I struggled with choosing the IUD or to go back on the birth control pill.  I was ALL SET with the pill, so that left me with the IUD.  I would've done a more holistic approach, but this was something that needed to be done urgently, so a more western approach was needed.

In my dream, I got my period and it was very heavy.  When I went to the bathroom, my IUD was hanging out of my vagina and I was afraid to move away from the toilet.  Then I stood up to call a friend. When I woke up, I had to actually go to the bathroom and check!  This would NEVER happen, and if it did, it would be the rarest thing ever. So I used this image and feeling in my piece. During the performance, I would think of the image and allowed my body to feel it.  I plan on using this image again, but for a longer time to see what manifests.  My piece was finalized, but more of a finalized work-in-progress.  For me, I may practice this image by itself.

It would be fun and interesting to teach a butoh class associated with dreams.  What an amazing way to work with your subconscious/unconscious.  A way to dance these images, feelings, and/or visions for yourself.  So many symbols and messages happen in our dreams for a reason.  It's our deep subconscious talking to us.  I guess it depends if we want to listen or not. 

Upcoming New Work: October 23-25

LIMBO: What Happens Between
October 23-25
Friday and Saturday, 8pm
Sunday, 7pm

Dance Mission Theater
3316 24th Street @ Mission
SF, CA
by 24th street BART station

Part of Celebrate: Butoh Dance 50th Anniversary Festival:

Liz Saari-Filippone, Bob Webb of Bare Bones Butoh, and several special guests come together in "Limbo (What Happens Between)", a Butoh performance. Using the extremes of Butoh we delve into the areas between the beautiful and the grotesque, flesh and spirit, light and dark, yin and yang, open and closed, then and now, this life and the next, the inner heart and the outside forces that weigh on it. Where do you come from? Where are you going? Come explore with us that grey area in between...Limbo...and find out what happens.

For other festival events, visit www.BUTOHSanFrancisco.net

Bare Bones Butoh Presents 14

Yay! I'm performing again! This is going to be very experimental for me this time so you can't miss it. There are also other wonderful performers and dancers that will share amazing stuff. Here's the info:

WHEN: Friday and Saturday, May 22nd and 23rd 8:00p.m

WHERE: Studio 210, located within the Old Sears Building at 3435 Cesar Chavez (inset from the corner of Cesar Chavez and Valencia).
There is plenty of on the street parking. It's four blocks from the 24th St. BART Station, and MUNI buses #27, #26, #14, and #49 will drop you off a block from our door.

TICKETS: $5-$20 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Additional donations are always graciously accepted and gratefully appreciated.

WHAT: Bare Bones Butoh Presents is a Butoh/performance art/ritual performace showcase/platform for local and international performers to show new works we're in the process of developing, try stuff out, hone our improv chops, redo/revisit material we've done before but want to continue to explore, or even to bring out old favorites we would just like to do again. The audience only pays a minimal fee, so everybody wins!

Hosted by a veteran group of Bay Area Butoh performers, Bare Bones Butoh Presents employs the grassroots ethic of working together to sustan our artistic culture.

Thus far in it’s over two year (!) history, every Bare Bones Butoh Presents show is a Benefit Peformance. It serves not only as a performance outlet, but also as a fundraising platform which supports local Butoh and Performance Artists in need. Our 12th show is no exception. All proceeds from these performances go towards enabling Butoh SanFrancisco to bring out of town and international Butoh Masters to our fair burg, thus enriching the entire community.

Bare Bones Butoh is community building and performance all smushed together into two evenings.

THE LINE UP: Martha Matsuda, Karen Light, Bob Webb, Deborah Butler,
Rocio Perez, Luk and Mando, Liz Filippone, Michael Curran, Christina Braun, Karen Light, Rowena Richie, Jennifer Gwirtz

More information contact Bob Webb, bobwebb20@hotmail.com.