I just received the 2008-09 NC Choreography Fellowship and will be going to Japan June 16 – September 15 to study butoh. At the present I am arranging housing. I am planning to stay in Yokohama near Kazuo Ohno’s studio where I will be studying 3 days a week. I have also been in touch with Akaji Maru (director of Dairakudakan) and Semimaru (director of Sankai Juku) and plan to take their workshops in August. Natsu Nakajima worked with Hijikata during the early years of butoh and is still an active force in the world of international butoh. I have connected with her and arranged to study in Tokyo.
I am so excited and a little nervous about my impending visit to Japan. I know it will be a time of personal growth for me as an artist. Though I have been studying Japanese, the language is quite difficult; I am an old dog and it is hard to learn a new trick.