The Clown and the Butoh dancer both live intensely, filled with imagination and feelings, open and vulnerable, dancing with reality and creating new worlds with everything they do. Both use an altered state of consciousness to create. They are the masters of dream and reality.

 

In this workshop, we will explore the interaction between Butoh and clown to see how they enrich each other. How, when calm settles, the clown gains freedom and how the intensity of feelings and play enriches the dance. Enhance your clowning skills with Butoh principles, such as internal imagery, a neutral and intelligent body, and the connection between body, space, time, and energy. Free your dance with clowning principles, such as playing with the present moment, ping-pong, and putting things into perspective to create lightness. Transform your body, mind, and presence so that everything becomes intensely poetic, playful, light, and free.

 

Led by Bart Walter, who has over 25 years of experience in both disciplines, this workshop offers a rare opportunity to discover the synergy between the mystical introspection of Butoh and the playful wisdom of Clowning.

 

Exploration and alteration of our state of consciousness

Increased awareness and bodily expressiveness

Heightened sensitivity to internal imagery and emotions

Basic principles of Butoh and clowning

Strengthened connection to the present moment

Deepened understanding of the interaction between body, mind, and imagination

 

Butoh is a Japanese form of movement in which consciousness and body transformation are central. We explore our body and mind, dance, play, and slow down. We create dream worlds with our feet, here and now. We will clown at the interface between reality and imagination. We'll see how Butoh works with internal imagery, and how the clown plays with reality, juggles with its rules, distorts it like a distorting mirror, like a miraculous dream that becomes reality.