Swiss Butoh dancer Imre Thormann

I was introduced by Yumiko Yoshioka to noguchi gymnastics, the physical training leading to Butoh dance. I still find it inspirational for my Yoga practice

Butoh acts as a radical challenge and catalyst for a deep and personal enquiry into the moving body. Butoh is not about doing movement but about being moved. Concentration is turned inward, away from the external mirror image of the body, to encourage a deep connection to the origin and impulses for movement. Participants are introduced to the value and power of working from imagination and from guided poetic imagery and butoh -fu as tools for transformation. The body can discover many selves and extend into animal, plant or non-human entities. Each session begins with a short body training session incorporating yoga, voice and Butoh techniques that concentrates on wave, spiral and circular movement patterns allied to breath and voice.

Marie-Gabrielle Rotie, Butoh UK