Spank Dance Performances

butoh

an on-going performance practice

photos by Scott Ewin, ellen bartel

Although there are a myriad of philosophical entry points into making dance, Japanese Butoh’s Ma philosophy has been the guiding principal for my own adult life and career. Ma is the state of being in-between, or, transition.  As an inspirational source, the in-between is where I find beauty and truth within life’s everyday moments, where I remember not only what I have accomplished but also that there is more to come, and that through transition I am propelled forward to a new place.     

Butoh is a gobal dance, its form has many meanings but its practice has one: acceptance. From Sondra Fraleigh in Butoh: Metamorphic Dance and Global Alchemy "Butoh was never a "pure" form needing to guard itself. Through Hijikita, Ohno, Kasai and others, it assimilated cultural aesthics from around the world and gave dancers a way to build bridges. Suddenly it was fine to speak of universals in dance. In dance reseach circles, I had learned that nothing is universal if you serach deeply enough. Butoh has taught me the opposite- that the more deeply I search, the more universals I will find." 34

Spank's butoh performers are: Mari Akita, Ellen Bartel, Caroline Sutton Clark, and Adam Sultan

PERFORMANCE CALENDAR

all performances are free and performed in the lobby of Salvage Vanguard Theatre

unless noted otherwise

May 10 @ Salvage Vanguard Theatre 7:00p.m.

June 28-29 @ Big Range Austin Dance Festival 9:30 p.m. $5.00

July 12 @ Salvage Vanguard Theatre 7:00p.m.

August 9 @ Salvage Vanguard Theatre 7:00p.m.