Butoh and Embodied Imagination
In June we had the pleasure of sharing Embodied Imagination with Butoh dancer, Sofya Shaikut. Butoh dance is mostly unknown outside of Japan and yet it is flourishing in parts of Europe and elsewhere. Sofya herself is active in Berlin and has a substantial following. Having seen some Butoh performances we were keen to explore the subjective experiences of the dancers. Of particular interest to us were the sources of inspiration for the movements and the connection between images and bodily narratives. The way in which embodiment takes place during Butoh has some common ground with Embodied Imagination; namely the use of interoception, mimesis, and giving space for other/alterity to manifest.
The Butoh encounter with Sofya activated Franco’s inner dancer and subsequently he suggested that we use embodied dream images to move us in the ‘Butoh fashion’. Working with images from two dreams we stood up and allowed the micromovements to gain amplitude in our bodies, a collective bodily resonance ensued. One of the dream images involved floating/flying, while the other involved being drawn forward by an intention, the accompanying sensations were fantastically liberating. The experiment has convinced us that dream-informed Butoh dance would be a great concept to explore further.
Embodied Imagination South Africa 