Becoming Body, Becoming Other. An Introduction to Butoh

Becoming Body: Becoming Other

An Introduction to Butoh

Duration: 3 hours

This workshop offers an immersive introduction to Butoh, a form of Japanese avant-garde dance that emerged in the late 1950s. Butoh is notoriously difficult to define due to its highly experimental nature and the founders' use of poetic and imagistic transmission over literal definition. Since then, Butoh has evolved into a global phenomenon encompassing diverse practices ranging from choreographic to improvisational. Guided by XUE, you will begin from the foundational principle of the "empty body"—using relaxation techniques to cultivate a porous, receptive state. From this place of deep listening, you will explore sensing and physical investigations, allowing the body to become a vessel for metamorphosis and a receiver of images drawn from the subconscious and sensory prompts. No formal dance experience is required. This practice is ideal for anyone interested in deepening their relationship to movement and inner world. All ages and body types are welcome.

What to wear: Comfortable clothing that allows free movement.

Class Structure:

Warm-up

Exercise / Prompt / Exploration

Improvisation

Group sharing

About Xue

Butoh artist XUE is the founder and facilitator of the Singapore Butoh Collective, a community initiative committed to the cultivation and sustained longevity of butoh culture in Singapore. Their practice spans performance art, film, and underground contexts. Ongoing training continues under Vangeline (Vangeline Theater/New York Butoh Institute) and Emiko Agatsuma (AGAXART, Japan), complemented by self-initiated research trips to Japan.

XUE is currently an Associate Artist at Dance Nucleus and a graduate of its Certificate Programme for Critical Practice in Contemporary Performance. Their work has been presented in the United States, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. In 2024, they completed *the centre trembles*, an eleven-hour butoh performance at the Singapore ArtScience Museum, and recently directed a movement piece at the Singapore National Gallery. XUE was also part of the organizing team and a guest performer at the Asia Butoh Gathering in the Philippines. Recently, they also curated a Butoh artist residency supported by the Goethe-Institut Singapur.

As co-founder of Endless Return, a Singaporean rave series exploring rave-butoh formats, their work was awarded a T:>Works Per°Form Open Academy Fellowship in 2023. In Singapore, they currently teach butoh at Lasalle College of the Arts and mentoring a student project at the National University of Singapore, in addition to conducting regular classes at *SCAPE. Through performance, facilitation, and teaching, XUE continues to investigate butoh as an artistic discipline and radical praxis for a new generation of artists.