A TECHNIQUE FOR BUTOH DANCE

PHOTO BY SANDEE JOHNSON

A TECHNIQUE FOR BUTOH DANCE    (6-week series) 

Taught by: Julie Becton Gillum

Mondays 6:30-8:30 pm, 2/15 – 3/21, 2016
Where: French Broad Studios, 475 Fletcher Martin Road
Cost: 6-session series is $100 OR $20 per session

Based on exercises and improvisations from Butoh training, Noguchi Gymnastics, and Modern Dance, this course aims to introduce a method for training and preparing the body to dance butoh. Classes will introduce, explore, and develop physical skills and anatomical theories of the body. Graham’s contract/ release theories, Humphrey /Limon’s concepts of fall /recover /rebound /suspend, Cunningham’s isolation and articulation practices, as well as Noguchi’s work with body as a water bag will provide material to assist in developing alignment, control of the center, and balance which are necessary for any dance or theatre performance. We will explore how to shape space through the timing and effort of our own creative energy, applying it in collaboration with gravity, and other physical forces. From the tiniest twitch to fully realized body forms and actions, the purpose of this work is to find the unique expression of your personal interior and exterior corporeal functions.

jbgbutoh@gmail.com
828 683 1377

6-Week Introduction to Butoh

photograph by Sandee Johnson
photograph by Sandee Johnson

BUTOH PRACTICE TIME CHANGED TO MONDAY EVENING!
For those of you who can’t make Sunday Butoh Practice, how about something completely different!

WHAT: 6-Week Introductory Course in Butoh ~ ALL LEVELS ARE WELCOME!
INSTIGATOR: Julie B Gillum of Legacy Butoh, jbgbutoh@gmail.com, 828 683 1377
DATES: Mondays – October 5, 12, 19, 26, November 2, & 9
TIME: 6:30 – 8:30 PM
PLACE: French Broad Studios, 475 Fletcher Martin Road, Alexander, NC 28701, http://frenchbroadstudios.com/
COST: $15 per week or $60 for the full 6-Week course

The course will introduce some basic butoh concepts and exercises, along with their roots within the legacy of butoh, as I have learned from my mentors. Ideas include:
* Presence. Practicing one’s own existence in space and time; carrying one´s own body weight.
* Connecting the Inside with the outside while developing a sense of the subtlety and delicacy of space and time between.
* The desublimated body [We stand in between life and death.Decay is the dance of living organisms.  What is the beauty of fading out in dance?] vs the unleashed body [Movement without thinking in search of the body’s unconscious impulses.]
* Sensing. To use all ways of knowing to sense the essence of things. The power of focus in dance. The whole body has eyes.
* The empty body does not move intentionally. It is moved by something unseen.

Ongoing Butoh Training Practice

photograph by Sandee Johnson
photograph by Sandee Johnson
Ongoing Butoh Training Practice taught by Julie Becton Gillum
Sundays, 11:30 – 1:30 PM @ French Broad Studios
475 Fletcher Martin Road, Alexander, NC
Suggested Donation $20
Call Julie for more info. or about snow days: 828 683 1377
In honor of winter’s inward journey to the core of the dark cave of consciousness, our first classes will be structured around the concept of “Still Life.” We will explore the relationship between layers of the body from the interior core through bone, muscle, and skin outward into the exterior forces at work on our flesh. We will develop techniques and qualities of body action and inaction.

BUTOH DANCE PRACTICE IN ASHEVILLE

Come to our regular butoh practice led by Julie Becton Gillum and other practitioners of the form.

Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 – 11:30 AM,

Place: BeBe Theatre, 20 Commerce Street, downtown Asheville

Cost: $5

For Info: jbgbutoh@gmail.com or 828 683-1377

ASHEVILLE BUTOH FESTIVAL WORKSHOPS

"The Mona Lisa"

The Asheville Butoh Festival will host three exciting workshops by butoh artists: Vanessa Skantz of Danse Perdue from Seattle, Chicago dancer Nicole LeGette of Blushing Poppy Productions, and Monika Gross, a recent transplant to Asheville from NYC. Classes are open to all – no previous dance or butoh experience required. All workshops are $25 if registered before June 15; $30 on the day of the workshop.

Continue reading “ASHEVILLE BUTOH FESTIVAL WORKSHOPS”

BUTOH DANCE WORKSHOP

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
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
learned in Japan this past summer.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
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

learned in Japan this past summer.

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)

Continue reading “BUTOH DANCE WORKSHOP”