As I start to endeavor on a new direction for my work- it is often haphazard in regards to research. I just start with whatever pops up online- giving control to the digital algorithms. In this search- I looked up Butoh. A performance art/Dance, I've seen in person in Chicago in the early 2000's. The art form is interesting to me for a lot of reseason's but often what I come back to is its expression of the body and loss.
Through my digital meandering I've encountered an article called "Butoh, Bodies, and Being" by Brianne Waychoff. I often find seemingly random things to start my research off. Not really random but not terribly controlled either. As I started to read it- I noticed the author was also in Chicago while I was there. And most likely we were in the same spaces seeing Butoh- like at Links Hall- where I often experienced incredible works of sound and performance art.
Once I realized the connection, I looked in to Brianne Waychoff for the off chance, I might recognize her somehow. Nope, but close to 20 years ago is a blur- though I'm sure we passed each other. As I casually did my googling, I noticed a obituary for someone fitting the description- someone just a couple years older than I am- and I found that Brianne Waychoff has recently died, this past summer, but how she died really struck me- she died from cancer. Cancer has been the guiding element in my work for the past two years- after I was diagnosed with it. Uncomfortable but I'm going to believe this is important right now.
I'm not a complete stranger to Butoh and I can't say my current work is really connected to it in any way but the ethos of what I understand about Butoh has always struck a cord with me. After seeing it, I found a book called Dancing into Darkness about Butoh- but that's still very limited.
Back to the article. Important quote:
We drag and carve the earth with the tripod of our foot.
Breathe.
Feel the hara. The place below your navel where energy pools.
Tap into that energy. Move from it.
Feel it connect like an umbilical cord to another dancer and move with them. Try to exchange energy back and forth.
Close your eyes and feel their body.
Give them your weight and take their weight in return.
"Waychoff, describing their experience in a new rehearsals space.
Butoh was, and is, a way of bringing the inside out; expressing interior tensions through dance; bridging the mind/body split (Ohno).
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