Dear Friends,

This is to let you know about a very exciting upcoming event in the Asheville arts community. In light of recent disasters such as in Japan, Haiti, and Pakistan, a portion of the proceeds from this event will be donated to The Red Cross and Doctors without Borders. Hope you can participate.

Sincerely,
Julie Becton Gillum

Press Release for April Fools Butoh Festival

What? 3 BUTOH Performances

When? Friday & Saturday, April 1, 2, 2011 @ 7:30
Sunday April 3 @ 6:00 PM

Where? BeBe Theatre, 20 Commerce Street, downtown Asheville

Who? Seattle Dancers: Sheri Brown, Maureen “momo” Freehill
Local Dancers: Julie B. Gillum, Sara Baird, Megan Ransmeier,
Lucas Baumann, Andrew Braddock, Melissa McKee, Jenni Cockrell

How Much? In Advance – $15 (general), $10 (Seniors, Students)
At the Door – $17, $12

***
What? 3 BUTOH Workshops

When /Who? Saturday April 2, 1:00-4:00, Julie Gillum (Asheville)
Sunday April 3, 1:00-4:00, Sheri Brown (Seattle)
Monday April 4, 6:00-9:00 -“momo” Freehill (Seattle)

Where? BeBe Theatre, New Studio Of Dance,
20 Commerce Street, downtown Asheville

How Much? $50 per single workshop
$90 for all 3 workshops (9 hours!)

Get ready for the “APRIL FOOLS BUTOH FESTIVAL” Produced by the Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre and Legacy Butoh, the festival will feature guest artists Sheri Brown and Maureen “momo” Freehill from the Seattle area as well as Asheville dancers in a smorgasbord of workshops and performances at the infamous BeBe Theatre, 20 Commerce Street in downtown Asheville. Performances are Friday April 1 and Saturday April 2 at 7:30 PM with a Sunday April 3 show at 6:00 PM. For tickets or information, please check out our websites at http://www.acdt.org/ and http://www.ashevillebutoh.com/ or call 828 254 2621.
Butoh originated in post-WWII Japan as an artistic reaction to the chaotic climate in the country following the war and the uneasy shift towards democratic values. Butoh dance is a postmodern m movement in which formal dance technique is eschewed in favor of primal and idiosyncratic movements. Butoh was born from an amalgamation of influences including the German expressionistic dances of Mary Wigman and Harold Krautzberg, western writers such as Genet, Artaud and de Sade, and the artistic movements of Surrealism and Dada. Butoh uses the body brazenly, in its most corporeal state, as a battleground to attain personal, social, or political transformations. Butoh dance challenges convention and avoids definition in order to reveal the fervent beauty of the unique human spirit. The “APRIL FOOLS BUTOH FESTIVAL” gives the Asheville community a rare opportunity to see a broad spectrum butoh dance performed by seasoned professionals as well as emerging artists in the field.
Sheri Brown met butoh in 2000, after 11 years of theatre and street performance and never looked back. She has studied with butoh masters Katsura Kan, Diego Pinon, Akira Kasai, Natsu Nakajima, and Yoshito Ohno to name a few. Brown collaborates with artists from all disciplines and has received numerous grants and awards for her artistic work, both regionally in the NW and internationally. Brown serves as the Artistic & Programs Director of Seattle-based DAIPANbutoh (www.daipanbutoh.com), an organization dedicated to strengthening the presence of Butoh in the Northwest, through producing performances and workshops for and by local, regional and international artists. And when she has time she tours as a solo performer and teaches butoh workshops.
Brown will perform “Ainsi Soit-Il” (“Amen“) a solo incorporating aspects of mother, father, dreams, and the subconscious. “Ainsi Soit-Il” means “Amen” or “So be it” in French. “Rivers of Industry” is work-in-progress informed by butoh-fu (movement vocabulary) created by the Vangeline Theatre in NYC, recent travel to Bangkok, and collaborative fusion with Alan Sutherland from Seattle, and Asheville’s own Megan Ransmeier, “Rivers “ will be performed by Ransmeier and Andrew Braddock.
Performing Sunday only, Maureen “momo” Freehill, is Artistic Director of MomoButoh International Dance Company; based in Seattle area, with 30 years experience as performer, educator & director of body-based practice & performance. She holds an MFA from U of Hawaii & Certifications in Yoga, Hypnotherapy & Dance Therapy. Momo danced for 5 years with Kazuo and Yoshito Ohno in Japan. Momo will perform “Flower Child” about babies, bees and her New Haven child-hood memories of protests and socio-cultural experiments during the 60s and 70s. In addition, Freehill will be joined by Sheri Brown for a duet in Sunday’s performance ONLY.
For those of you who want to learn more about the delicious enigma that is BUTOH, there are three tasty workshops offered during “April Fools Butoh Festival.” On Saturday April 2, 1:00-4:00 PM, Julie B Gillum will offer material from her recent work in Japan with Seisaku, a Yoko Ashikawa disciple. Sheri Brown’s workshop, Sunday April 3, 1:00-4:00 PM will focus on searching for the eternal presence of pure force beyond the civilizations of Capitalism, Socialism, Westernization, and Modernization. On Monday April 4, 6:00-9:00 PM, Momo’s workshop incorporates Poetry, Visual Art, Music and Dance to evoke our soul’s deepest “Callings” toward an artful Life. All of these exciting workshops taught by professionals whose total combined years of experience falls just short of 100, can be had for the same price $90 . . . or $50 for a single workshop.

www.ashevillebutoh.com
www.acdt.org

http://momobutoh.net/

Here is the info about my upcoming workshop. Please let your friends know about this opportunity and feel free to contact me with any questions you have. Hope you can come!

What: Butoh Dance Workshop

When: Saturday, November 21, 1:00 – 4:00

Where: Bryson Gym, Warren Wilson College

Who: Taught by Julie Becton Gillum

Cost: $30.00 (FREE FOR WWC STUDENTS)

Contact: Julie Becton Gillum, email: jbgbutoh@gmail.com,

Telephone: (828)683-1377

“Create the form and the soul will follow.” Tatsumi Hijikata (founder of butoh)

“Follow your heart and the form will reveal itself.” Kazuo Ohno (founder of butoh)

Butoh History: Originating in post WWII Japan, Butoh dance is a postmodern movement in which formal dance technique is eschewed in favor of primal and idiosyncratic styles that transform the human body and allow raw physical energy to come into being. Butoh has revolutionized what dance is and can be. It ‘s influence on today’s dance world equals that of Martha Graham or Merce Cunningham. Butoh is an attempt to create new forms of movement and expression. Butoh uses the body brazenly, in its most corporal state, as a battleground to attain personal, social, or political transformation. It searches for the dance that pushes buttons, steps on toes and slips between the cracks of definition in order to reveal the fervent beauty of the unique human spirit.

Biography of Julie Becton Gillum: Julie Gillum has been creating, performing and teaching dance in the US and internationally for over 40 years. She currently teaches modern dance, musical theatre, performance art and butoh at Warren Wilson College. Gillum’s primary form of artistic expression has become butoh, which she has been practicing, performing and teaching since 1997. She has created and presented major pieces in the genre, at a variety of venues in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Mexico. Gillum was awarded the 2008-09 NC Choreography Fellowship and used the funds to go to Japan this past summer to study butoh at the source.

During her three month stay in Japan, Gillum studied primarily with Yoshito Ohno, son of Kazuo Ohno. She also studied extensively with Natsu Nakajima, a disciple of Hijikata during the early days of butoh. In addition she took weekly classes with Seisaku, who danced with Yoko Ashikawa, Hijikata’s first female dancer. Gillum also took intensive workshops and performed with internationally renowned butoh companies, Dairakudakan and Sankai Juku. The November workshop will delve into new material she learned in Japan this past summer.

During this workshop I learned a lot about the Noguchi Taiso method of body conditioning which is used by many butoh teachers. This method defines the body as a skin bag filled with water in which float the bones, muscles and organs. Movements involve shaking, waving, floating. Spinal alignment, a central axis, relaxed shoulders, and hanging from a string are basic to Noguchi Taiso. Semimaru also uses the ideas of tension /relaxation, center of gravity, vertical /horizontal, breathing, and rhythm in this work. These exercises felt so good to my body. I plan to continue them to keep me loose and strong.

The movement material we performed was not particularly interesting and used the same quality (soft, slow, wavy) throughout.

I did not feel a strong connection with Semimaru who is not particularly warm or friendly. I felt he just wanted us to pay our money, not make too much trouble and then go quietly away.

I took class with a Sankai Juku dancer that seemed like Martha Graham gone butoh; I probably will not go back to that one. But I did take a class with Seisaku, who studied with Yukio Waguri and is an excellent teacher.  His work is based on emptiness in the body, not images, and a new way of defining space. The first half of the class is a thorough physical warm-up conducted by Yuri, a modern /ballet trained dancer who has been drawn to butoh.

Natsu’s classes start with Noguchi Seitai, exercizes using massage, breathing techniques, and physical training. In her creative work she encourages use of dance elements (space, time and energy) as well as blending abstract dance movement with theatre actions.  She claims that Hijikata believed that butoh was pure theatre.

Yoshito’s classes involve no warm-up, so I have to arrive early to get these old bones moving. His style is warm, generous, and encouraging filled with imagistic suggestions which are quite poetic and inspiring. He often quotes and imitates both Hijikata and Kazuo and modestly refers to himself as shadow or frame. Though in his 70′s, he is still a vibrant force, touring the world, performing and teaching.

After all classes there is social time. Yoshito always serves tea or wine and snacks. Often everyone goes out for drinks and delicious Japanese food served family style. I love this country, its customs, and most of all its people!