October-November 2010

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School Journal
Butoh Festival Himalaya
29 November, 2010

Festival has started --Resonance Workshop

The First Himalayan Butoh Festival has started succesfully.
Before then some opening events were held.
On Sunday morning, Resonance workshop was open leaded by Ikuko.
Verious countries people has participated.
Many of them enjoyed the first experience of the life resonance with deep impressions.
Their impressions are the following;


27 November, 2010

Himalayan Festival of Shisha (The Dead)

The Festival is going to start. Today students performed on the Tibettan Kora (Dharailama temple), and at the Opening of Butoh Exhibition in the Dlaramsala town.
The four Butoh pieces and two waorkshops are ready.
The Butoh peices of students became so deeper. As if we invite various Shisha (the Dead) from all over the world to the Himalaya, and dance together. This is the Festival of resonance among the Shisha (the Dead) and the living.
We manifest as the following at the Himalayan Festival of Shisha.;



Butou Expands Beauty


What is beauty?
We are bound by a very narrow concept of beauty.
Butoh breaks the narrow boundaries of beauty, and expands it from the existing human perception to "The Beauty of Life".

Not only can a healthy young ballet dancer be beautiful, but all beings can create the Beauty of Life. There is beauty even in the falling of dead leaves. Why is a handicapped body not able to create Beauty?

Release your Self from the binds of the small ego. As the human transform towards the Life, we may find the novel Beauty of every being.

Butoh is the pioneer of a novel way of living. After removing the long standing binds od illusion, that our narrow humanity, we may live as "Life".



Program of the First Himalayan Butoh Festival

Date Time Event Place
27 Nov
-5 Dec
9:00-20:00 Butoh Exhbition Heart Lock Cafe
Japanese restaurant
27 Nov 9:00 "Just resonance"
site specific Butoh performance
Tibetan Kora
4:00 Opening performance of Exhibition Heart Lock Cafe
28 Nov 10:00-12:00 Open Butoh Workshop
with Ikuko(Japan)
18:00 Butoh on Screen Cinema, Temple Rd
(near post office)
29 Nov 18:00 "Fallen from Grace" Odile(USA) Subbody School
30 Nov 18:00 "Far Forest" 
Kiyoko (Japan)
●Open discussion after the performance
Subbody School
1 Dec 18:00 "Big Quest(ion)"
Monika (Poland)
Subbody School
2 Dec 17:30 "Change"
Ikuko (Japan)
Subbody School
18:30 "...Important"
Cobody theater
Odile, Kiyoko, Ikuko,Monika
Subbody School
3 Dec 17:30 "Snow Lion" 
Dorjee (Tibet)
Subbody School
5 Dec 10:00 "Unrevelling Rainbow"Fabricio (Brazil)
Color Workshop for Handicapped people
Ningtoblying
Tibetan Handicapped Home

All performances and workshops are Free!
23 November, 2010

Encounter archetypes

The travels into the darkness of body are going to reach the final stage.
Everybody is inevitable to encounter various archetypes in this stage.
Jung found the corrective unconsciousness, and the archetypes are residents of this world.
Archetype is like a instinct. The instinct accurs automatic response of body movement as the same resonance pattern. The archetypes accur specific response of imagination. Both are inprinted in our genom. All human have same resonance pattern with the qualia of red, qualia of fear against snake, or tiger. They are the instinct. When we feel something unknown in the darkness, our life resonante with the archetypes, and create various images ghost, demon, and so on automatically. They are the archetypes. All people beyond the nation and culture, share the archetype of heaven, hell, god, monster, spirit, and so on.
Each student met own archetype.
Odile encounterd "Dark Feminine", Monika met a big skurt which produces and loves everything and eats everything as the "Great mother". Ikuko entered the narrow dark cave, it is a metapher of womb, and the symbol of mother. She met a Samurai commander in the abyss. It is the "Animus". Kiyoko travel in her origin of water, and met the people who became the Minamata disease by pollution of Marcury in the fetus period. Also she met a Niou who is a strong gurdner. Also it is the "Animus".
All archetypes are so strong. They bring rich images and bind strongly at the same time.
To be bound or to change it creation, the fighting is unavoidable.
The world of archetyoes is non-dual realm. Life and death are muddled and unified.. Eros and tanatos become oneness.
Now, students share each archetyoe and enter the abyss each toher.
Through these hard processes we can co-create the world together as life.
Students are creating each "Arche body".
It is not only subody or cobody, but is sub-cobody beyond the border of individual and group.
About the "Arche body", I will discribe at the "Ten bodies" later.
It is also "The transparent resonance body" which I wish to share with all.
Finally we can reach the stage.


19 November, 2010

Dark Feminine

Students sink into the abyss of life, and research each own qualia by various way, and guide into it each other in this month.
The travel is full of mysteries, we cannot expect whatever will happen.
Odile met "Dark Feminine" in the travel into her abyss.
She said " I noticed that I don't know anything now."
She has to deconstruct her peice which she constructed until then at all.
One of the symbol of it is "Ereshkigal", a Mesopotaminan goddess who lives in the underground. She has a sister Inanna who lives in the Heaven.
Inanna is a goddes of Love, War, and Fertility. Ereshkigal is a goddess who can control the power of the dead.
Inanna did the descent of the underground passing seven gates with lost clothing, and the ascension.
(For more info; Crick here)
Odile quated a word "Myth is the mirror of the Soul, and guided us into her abyss.
I also traveled together and encountered unexpected big edge.
My own travel is written at "Sink into the darkness"
To share each one's abyss brings us into deeper awareness which we could not notice by alone. The travels of students resonates and deepens each other.
Because the travel into the Abyss is to enter the non-dual realm of life which the boundary between self and others disappears.
In the abyss of life, there are no copy rights.
We share deep mysteries and secrets which are folded in the each abyss of body, these diverse fertility brings each one's flowers infinitely.
The more diversity of mystery and secret suport the richer hervest of flowers.
This is the most important stage of the life resonance which we ca nshare at the last stage of the subbody school. It is million times recher and deeper in the one year course than the short course. That's why I oriented to the long term class.


16 November, 2010

Into the abyss

Our daily bodies belive that we live in the four dimension world. The consciousness mainly controll us. Consciousness beleives that we can name almost everything by word. Our language was bound by dualism. When we name something by word, it divide inside the concept and outside of it. We judge everything by dualisitc judgement; good/bad, up/down, in/out, me/others, and so on. It is unconscious bound. MIndell call it "Concensus reality".
In the darkness of body, there are many layers. At the shallow part, it is the neibour of dayly body, every qualia are connect to the division of language thinking. They are able to be recognized as defferent thing each other distinctly. We can still name them by words.
When we sink into deeper layers of it, every qualia are released from dualistic division, they are streaming and trransforming easily and naturally always like our dream. Subbody and cobody live there. Mindell call it "Dreamland".
Subconsciousness, dream, imagination, emotion, desire, and body are the residents of this world.
Who makes dream? Who creates subbody dance? We don't know.
When we sink down much more deeper realm, slowly stranger things happen.
The boundaries among them become vague, subbdoy changes to cobody, you becomes me, me becomes you. Inside overflow outside and return back as different qualia. Because everything resonates and changes quietly and infinitely. Mindell calls this realm "Dream creator" or "Essense". Hijikata called it by various words "Behind world", "Infinite realm", "Abyss", "Shisha (Dead), " The realm before differentiation of self and others", and so on.
This is the realm of Life and Qualia. It is the non-dual and multi-dimensional realm without any boundaries. Life resonates with everything. Qualia which life feels are the resonance. They resonate each other always and continue to create new qualia infinitely.
We are going to sink down into this realm, and resonate with everything as Life.
It is the first experiment for Subbody school.
We will continue this experiment until the end of school year. What will happen at the Butoh Festival Himalaya? Nobody knows.


11 November, 2010

Sinking into the inner abyss

Kiyoko guided us into the deep place of the darkness of body with using process work method of Mindell. Arnord Mindell organized the POP (Process Oriented Phychology). I also learned a lot from him, Kiyoko and me has started the studying Mindell around fifteen year ago at the same time with Katsura Kan.

She sugessted us to find a specific part of body which we feel something special.
And to taste the place deeply with various somatic and mental feeling.
Next atage is to find a scenery which seems to connect tothe part of body deeply.
When we find the each scenery, she guided us that it is our dreamland, to taste the wisedom of that place, and become a Spirit of the place. The scenery might be a place on the planet; sea, desrt, forest, or another space or time outside of the planet, in the Universe.
Finnally, she guided us to start own dance as the spirt of the space.
It is the travel into the abyss of the darkness of body. Mindell calls them, "dreamland" and "the essense" or "the creater of the dream", "big self" and so on.
Normally they are dissociated and forgotten from our dayly body. We are bound by the daily consensus of reality. We need to open very subtle sensitivity to release from the binds. Mindell call it "sencient" ," lucidity", and he told us to keep the lucidity for 24 hours.

Each student met own part of the body and own abyss.

Ikuko: the neck --A narrow cave
Lee: the bottom of body--brack smoke where the origin life was born.
Odile: the neck--sea where is the roots of the plants.
Kiyoko: the bottom of thumb--a origin of a stream

Students met own essense of the dreamland through the worlk. It is the same as "the abyss(depth)" or "the infinite realm" in Hijikata's butoh score. We could start to reseach the Kyu part of the final piece of the year from there.
we will share them together as a cobody, and will co-create the world.

I noticed that the deepest world which a necessary dance comes out from is not placed outside of us, but it exsists inside of us.
Mindell always gives me the most important awareness which has become a blind point of inner sight.
I aprictate to him and Kiyoko.
By chance, Angeliki informed us a Butoh workshop by Katsura Kan in Greece.
When the Synchronisity happens, it is the sign that we are in the good condition of life.
We are resonating beyond time and space.



11 November, 2010

Walk only by the sense of touch and nerves
  

Kiyoko introdeced a Hijikata's practice butoh score. It was taken over from Hijikata Tatsumi-Waguri Yukio-Kawamoto Yuko-Katsura kan-Kiyoko. It has fixed choregraphy. We learned it. This is more advanced practice score than "A size walk" and "Bugs walk" for opening subtle resonance of hidden skins and nerves.

 

  1. A tiny branch on the head has broken 'pokin!' (above right eye)
  2. A ear on your nose
  3. A bird is going to fly off from the right temple
  4. A bug crawls up from the right sole.
  5. Smash the bug by left foot 'jari!'
  6. Little finger pops 'pikun!'
  7. Convulsions on your cheek
  8. A flute at your throat
  9. A sound a spoon falling behind you
  10. Leaves are falling down from your head top into the body
  11. A sinking body
  12. When I try to walk, a key of the tiny room in the chest was locked
  13. A snail on the left neck
  14. A jumping grasshopper
  15. Long mustache (both side)
  16. A mantle of light
  17. A neck of horse
  18. A body entwined with ivy
  19. Leave

 



6 November, 2010

Digging original qualia

Students dig each part of body and research each own original qualia which are connected each part of body. Because only they become the blood of butoh dance. They massage various part of body; sole, leg, hand, mouse, and so on each other, and remember own memories which assosiated to each dancing place. SLowly each dancing place find unique dance. Sometimes the hidden memories attack them unexpectedly, and give shocks. It's hard process, but absolutely necessary process to create original butoh dance.
Cows, Monkeys, Mongoose, Lezards, various creatures visit school one after another as teachers of real qualia of life.

The body is the dancing place. A dancing place of hand, a dancing place of hip, a dancing place behind the elbow, and so on.

The depth of the dancing place is formed by overcoming hardship and connecting memories involved in each part of body.
( Hijikata's Butoh score )



2 November, 2010

Dear friends of Subbody Butoh School,

 

This year Subbody Butoh School is  organising  First Himalayan Butoh Festival

The  title  of the  festival  is “…dance of life” (please find the poster in attachment). We are  planning different  events: performances, exhibition, film projections and different  workshops led by current students.

 

It is  the  first  time that  Subbody Butoh School  will  try new things, therefore we would  appreciate if  you have  any ideas or suggestions. Any  form  of support is always welcome ;-)

 
All of your account on the Facebook

The school also has its page on the  Facebook. Here  is the  link:

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Subbody-Butoh-School/151855081525977?v=wall

 

Please click on LIKE if you  would like  to  be informed  about the  events and  news from  the  school. And most  importantly feel  free to express yourself through  this  page, share your  thoughts, experience, creation and discoveries connected to Butoh…. Let’s stay  connected!!!

Send us  links or any information that  could  enrich  the  page and help to  widen ‘subbody  family”

Also  please recommend this page  to  anyone who  can be interested in Butoh.

 

Warm  regards and best  wishes to all past, present and  future  students  and  friends of Subbody  Butoh School

 

Keep in touch

 

Subbody  Butoh School (Himalaya)

 



30 October, 2010

Four witches have gathered!

At the end of October, added Ikuko, Odile, Monika has come back from Poland, and Kiyoko joined from Japan. Kiyoko is one of the oldest butoh friend who learned from Katsura Kan together fifteen years ago in Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Hawaii, Thailand, Singapore, and so on. Now she has her butoh group; "Takasoga Butoh Co-op" in Japan.
In this week, we have just stated to read Hijikata's butoh score for "Quiet House".
When they danced and transformed from boxed bodies to chimera bodies, it seemed as if four witches were dancing and transforming.
Next month, we are going to study the butoh score "Quiet House" deeper.
They will get the whole of the secret method of Hijikata; 'Reduction by X and regeneration', vaporized body transformation as a dead body, and so on.
How will their bodies change? Please watch the process carefully.
It will be the first experiment for us.