Katsura Kan’s Butoh research seminar with Noh theatre classes (7 days totally).

One week residency with Katsura Kan will consist of two blocks: 1) butoh workshop (5 days 3 hours a day) and 2) Noh theatre classes for the sake of research artistic principles discovered in japanese traditional Noh theatre (5 days 2 hours a day).

“Surrealism of Flesh: Looking for your own dance”: essence of Katsura Kan’s butoh experience.

Butoh is called “Surrealism of Flesh”. Nowadays butoh is recognized as a part contemporary dance area although butoh has been started as an Experimental Performance in 1950s-60s, one of the Japanese avant-garde art movements.

1) Introduction to Kan’s butoh:

In Buddhism teaching, there are core called “Right View” from Noble Eight-Fold Path. Kan’s workshop aims “Right View”. And he has been developed it from Japanese Noh Theater essence which is influenced by Zen.

In everyday life “mysterious behavior” is hidden. We improve our skills of “observation” to harvest on the stage. Katsura Kan is a butoh dancer who works both in and outside Japan. Kan will share his ideas from his over 45 years of experience about how to discover and develop your own dance.

Led by Katsura Kan, the Butoh workshop explores the idea of ​​“curious body” through the Group observation, including daily life, that is the key to understanding the main of the butoh movement ideas. Kan will guide participants the new cognitive approach of body with “Observation”. Participants will be instructed how to “erase the noise” and “focus on the other side of one’s reality” through his experiences of the significant elements of Butoh.

2)⁠ ⁠Workshop content/themes

Kan’s vocabulary :

1) “Martial arts”: as a sense for the speed and timing with irregular beat to create the body percussion movement.

2) “Messenger Work”: communication design between body and space.

3) “Wind work”: essential practice about the atmosphere that you create around you.

4) “Rhythm composition”: voice and sound with movement, reaching the essence of Rhythm.

5) “Noh sliding step”: techniques how to carry your aura from Noh Theater method of KONGOH school.

6) “Mask training”: as an unidentified expression from inside of the body.

7) “Group improvisation”: for the space design perception.

8) “Quality & atmosphere”: to awake more of what we are doing instead of only improvisation.

9) “Butoh Notation”: Kan will introduce to Tatsumi Hijikata’s and his own notations method.

The workshop is suitable for everyone with and without previous Butoh experience.

Duration:

3 hours a day 5 days.

Last day we will make a show by participants based on the workshop ideas.

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Katsura Kan’s Noh theater research seminar

“風の翼/WINGs of the Wind” is a metaphor and indicator for incorporating the technique of 舞/MAI* from Noh theater into Butoh.
The concept of “舞/MAI” is also seen in the “東北歌舞伎計画/Tohoku Kabuki Project**” by Butoh founder Tatsumi Hijikata in his later years, and Katsura Kan positions 舞/MAI as a gift of Asian traditional performing arts that is not found in Western modern and contemporary dance.

For the past 10 years, Kan have been teaching Butoh classes and Noh training (Shimai) in parallel in order to delve into the act of conveying an inexplicable atmosphere as DANCE itself. This is because the technique of conveying the form of the body using “謡/UTAI” (chanting) as the wind is the shortest cut route to mastering “舞/MAI”.

In order to convey this atmosphere (space), it is necessary to feel the “wings” to ride the wind and fly with “Quiet Body”・ 序破急/JO-HA-KYU* and 残心/ZANSHIN** are important concepts to learn and perform.
Let’s explore the “WINGs of the Wind” together!
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舞/MAI — is a japanese concept of what we can translate as a “dance”. But this means: “to dance is to carry the atmosphere”. 舞/MAI is the art of shite, principal actor in japanese Noh theatre. 舞/MAI is the first hierogyph in 舞踏/“butoh”
[4.03.2025 18:22:46] ~Boris Borisov: «東北歌舞伎計画/Tohoku Kabuki Project» is what Butoh’s founder Tatsumi Hijikata called what he did as a researcher, choreographer and director in the last period of his life and work, from the second half of the 1970s to 1986, the year of his death.

«序破急/JO-HA-KYU» is the principle of dynamism, or tempo rhythm. The founder of the Noh Theater in its classical form, as we know it now, Zeami Motokiyo, took the musical principles of tempo rhythm that were used in traditional gagaku music, and having developed them for dance, he began to apply them on the Noh stage.

残心/ZANSHIN — we can explain as “remain with your heart in this, totally”. When a samurai deadly cuts or pierces his opponent in a duel situation, he does not immediately sheathe his sword and leaves: after the climax, he takes a pause so that what happened is imprinted on his heart, it really happened in perception. The zanshin principle is used in traditional martial arts, such as karate and iaido. Also in kyudo, the traditional art of archery. And in the dance of the theater Noh.

The concepts mentioned by Kan are Zen principles that are incorporated into the theory and practice of various Japanese traditional arts.
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Katsura Kan nowadays is one of the oldest active butoh artists still dancing and creating shows and spectacles, initiating international festivals and keeping his mission all around the world. Original artist, original teacher, Master with his own approach in butoh world.
Kan have been studying Noh theatre principles since 1986 in traditional “Kongoh” school (Kyoto).
So, why after more than 45 years of butoh experience, he insists that Noh principles are very precious for his contemporary art, his contemporary butoh?
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During the residency Katsura Kan will give a lecture: «Butoh vs. Noh: traditional principles for contemporary art»