Resonant Bodies: “Intro to Butoh” Digital Workshop

with Jordan Rosin

Tuesdays & Thursdays, August 8, 10, 15, 17 on Zoom

• Los Angeles (PDT; UTC-7): 6pm – 9pm
• New York (EDT; UTC-4): 9pm – midnight
• Melbourne (AEST; UTC+10): 11am – 2pm (next day)

This 12+ hour, two week course is designed to give students a basic introduction to Butoh Dance, the avante-garde expressive dance-theatre form which originated in Japan in the 1950’s. This course is a great fit for dancers, actors, and artists of all kinds who may be new to butoh or experienced butoh practitioners who want to learn in Jordan’s signature approach.

Important Details:

• 12 hours of live training, discussions, and performance sharing on Zoom.
• 4 – 10 hours of pre-recorded practice sessions, reading, and creative assignments outside of class.
• Students will need a strong internet connection, open space to move, working webcam + microphone, and to sign a liability release.
• Instruction and discussions will take place in English.

Cost:

To increase access and equity this course is offered at a sliding scale. The actual cost of the course is $300 and spots listed below that price are limited. Please register at the highest price you can reasonably afford to leave room for others who may need assistance.

• 2 spots are available FREE to folks from marginalized identities via the EDI Scholarship (application required)
• 3 spots are available at $100 USD (Reduced Price)
• 3 spots are available at $200 USD (Reduced Price)
• unlimited spots are available at $300 USD (Actual Price)
• unlimited spots are available at $400 USD (Pay-It-Forward to Help Someone Else)
• unlimited spots are available at $500 USD (Pay-It-Forward to Help Someone Else)

Registration is Limited to 12 Total Participants. No refunds allowed.

Registration Timeline:

• Monday, July 10, 2023 at 12:00pm PST (Los Angeles) – Registration Opens
• Friday, July 21, 2023 — Review of EDI Scholarship Applications Begins
• Friday, July 28, 2023 — (Approximate) EDI Scholarship Applicants Decisions Given
• Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at 6:00pm PST (Los Angeles) – Registration Ends

What Is Butoh?

(Adapted from Jordan & Yokko’s Butoh Course Syllabus at Dell’Arte International)

Butoh, or sometimes Ankoku Butoh “dance of darkness”, is an experimental, avante-garde art form. It originated in mid-twentieth century Japan drawing influence from art forms such as Dada, German Expressionist dance (Neuer Tanz), Spanish dance, corporeal mime, as well as theatre (western and national/underground), literature and fine art. Beginning in 1959, Butoh’s founder Tatsumi Hijikata began to develop Butoh, often highly collaboratively with other artists and dancers… Hijikata eventually created his own Butoh training system and is famous for the creation of thousands of small language and image-driven choreographic units called Butoh-Fu (notational butoh). Kazuo Ohno, one of the most influential Japanese dancers, collaborated with Hijikata and toured their collective work worldwide. Ohno’s approach to teaching and performing Butoh focused on more improvisation-based and spiritual approaches. 

By the start of the 21st century, butoh became a global phenomenon encompassing artists and practitioners from many walks of life with varying aesthetics, processes, and approaches. Butoh training often promotes physical endurance and expressiveness, spiritual consciousness, and creativity. For an idea of how prolific Butoh is today, check out Jordan’s Directory of Butoh Artists / Dancers Worldwide.

What makes Jordans approach to Butoh training different?

Resonant Bodies is consent-based, trauma-informed, and ensemble-driven.  Consent-based means that participation in all exercises is optional and folks boundaries will be respected. Trauma-informed means that content warnings are used to reduce harm and mitigate the impact of potential triggers. Ensemble-driven means that collaborative creation is an important part of the training process and that participants’ lived experiences and preferences make up much of the content of the creative work.

Jordan’s signature approach to Butoh is also informed by extensive complementary training in European physical theatre traditions like mask and mime (which, in part, form some of the early inspiration for Butoh) as well as useful somatic modalities like yoga, Bartenieff Fundamentals and the Alexander Technique.

Read more about Jordan’s approach to Butoh Training and some of its key benefits in “Why Should Butoh Dance Be A Part of Actor Training?“

For questions, e-mail jordan@jordanrosin.com.

About the Instructor

Jordan Rosin (the/he/she) is a director/choreographer, actor-creator, and researcher/teacher, specializing in applied & ensemble-devised physical theatres. Focusing primarily on the avant-garde art form of Butoh since 2010, Jordan has trained with over twenty different first, second, and third-generation teachers both in the USA and Japan including Yoshito Ohno, Ko Murobushi, Katsura Kan and Daiichiro Yuyama. Among Jordan’s main butoh teachers are Joan Laage, Vangeline, & Tetsuro Fukuhara. Jordan was a co-founder & Producing Artistic Director of the NYC-based physical theatre ensemble, The Ume Group from 2011-2016; has been a frequent collaborator with the butoh company Ren Gyo Soh; and has choreographed nearly two dozen original dance/theatre works using Butoh-based methodologies. Select choreography credits include the internationally acclaimed Butoh Medea (Best Physical Theatre, United Solo Festival 2015; Best Choreography, United Solo Festival 2015); The Ume Group’s Butoh Electra; Facet (Hollywood Fringe Festival); Isis Variations (FringeNYC 2014, CoolNY 2014 Dance Festival); Dream Dances; and Lysistrata Project. They hold a BFA in Drama from Syracuse University and MFA in Ensemble-Based Physical Theatre from Dell’Arte International. They completed a Post-MFA at Virginia Tech’s School of Performing Arts and are presently on faculty at the Northwest School of the Arts in Seattle, WA. Jordan is a member of the Association of Theatre Movement Educators and winner of their 2019 “Integrated Artist-Scholar” & 2020 “Innovation Fellowship” awards; as well as a member of Playback North America; Network of Ensemble Theatres; and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC Associate).. www.jordanrosin.net / @jordanrosin