Led by Yumino Seki, this class is Butoh-based.
Butoh is a form of Japanese avant-garde dance which emerged from post-war chaos in Japan in the late 1950s. Influenced by German Expressionism, self-identity was radically explored through bodily expression.
Shifting attention from ‘action’ to ‘active listening’ we will explore the body’s complex expression through Butoh’s culturally diverse perspectives, such as ‘ma’ – in between time and space,‘wabi’ – humbleness and ‘sabi’- the process of decay. Alone, in pairs and in groups, and working both quietly and dynamically, we will aim to embody movement, image and sensation using a somatic approach.
trusting that the body has its own intelligence and experience. Not moving but being moved. I explore and reflect the inner landscape where the body becomes mere ‘being’ and where a point of transformation occurs
– Yumino Seki
In person at Siobhan Davies Studios for 10 participants max
Yumino Seki is a Japanese dance artist, Butoh practitioner and qualified somatic movement educator who performs, teaches and makes performances in collaboration with artists from diverse backgrounds. Her work is informed by the cultural depth and diversity of both the UK and Japan. Her development in her movement has been a gradual exploration of collective and and self-identity.
She searches for Butoh’s visceral communication. ‘Authenticity of the temporal body’ in dance performance has been her focus for many years. Between 1999-2009 she performed extensively in Europe in Butoh predominantly with Mamu Dance Theatre (Tadashi Endo), TEN PEN CHii (Yumiko Yoshioka) both in Germany and Ariadone (Carlotta Ikeda) in France. In 2012 she became qualified in Voice Movement Integration Practice with Patricia Bardi in Amsterdam.
Since 2013 Seki has further developed her Butoh and somatic work and directed cross-discipline performances which include Hyakki Yakou (2013) and The Equinox Flower (2014/ 2015). Key commissions include House of Crusoe (2019), Earl Street Creative Space (2016) and Artbeat Egypt (2012). Recently she has expanded her work in theatre, music, film and visual art including performing in work by Zadie Xa at Venice Biennale, Art Night, Dance International Glasgow and De La Warr Pavilion.