Revealing the Transformative Power of Contrast
INTENSIVE SUMMER WORKSHOP WITH MATILDE J. CIRIA AND CAMILLA GIANI
BUTOH
Born as a rebellion against both Western and traditional Japanese dance, Butoh itself embraces duality as a transformative power. It resists definition, stability, expectations, existing in constant metamorphosis: it is at constant rebellion against itself.
Inspired by the Japanese concept of Ma (間) — the space between things—Butoh exists in a state of unresolved becoming. By surrendering to opposition, the dancer finds freedom, letting external and internal forces shape movement.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
We will immerse ourselves in the tension between opposites: light and shadow, surface and depth, freedom and restriction. We will even experience opposing ways of resisting and surrendering, expanding the boundaries of our perception.
Can two opposite states coexist without one overpowering the other? Must there have to be someone to lose? Can we discover a space where contrasts engage in dialogue, giving birth to new realities? What we often perceive as a conflict can also be envisioned as a dance of life, a driving force for transformation which originates new possibilities we would not have discovered without the challenge of an opponent. As the meeting of hot and cold air generates rain—a release of energy that nourishes life—our exploration of contrasts will lead to unpredictable movement, that will nourish our dance.
1 phase –– CLEAR WEATHER
SEPARATE CLASSES
During the first phase, each of us will guide you through our own unique explorations:
🔹 Matilde will lead you into the universe of ni.butoh, exploring the unnamed, the limitless, the underground, and the intimate. We will work with the concept of the hollow – “what is not” – and its transformative power.
🔹 Camilla will focus on what happens on the surface. We will explore the liminal space where one thing ends and another one begins, investigating border spaces where subtle yet powerful creative impulses arise, sometimes hidden in plane light!
2 phase – CLOUDS
CO-TEACHING
In the second phase we will weave these contrasting explorations into a unified experience. The two paths will merge into only one, where both teachers will lead together the classes. A meeting ground of opposites where Butoh dance emerges and transforms.
3 phase – PREPARING THE STORM
CREATION
In the third phase we will immerse ourselves into specific creations. Exploring and sharing the “art of becoming” and the “art of being,” discovering in opposition an inexhaustible source of creation.
7TH DAY: THE RAIN COMES!
The last day we will give ourselves to the magical ritual of performance to share the result of our research.
ABOUT US:
We met in Ten Pen Chii in 2010, and we grew in Butoh under the wings of Yumiko Yoshioka. Ever since we have been collaborating as artists and friends, driven and united by the love of Butoh. Our vision was so profoundly connected that in 2024 our path joined again to give birth to BIG – Butoh international Gathering, the biggest and most important event for butoh dissemination in Europe, and a great legacy from Ex..it project
.
During BIG we have been able to put our diversity at the service of a shared goal and this is why our different ways worked as pillars of a temple, they supportively engaged to what was necessary, We consciously yielded any friction for the sake of BIG!!!!
Since we have been working so smoothy together we decided to look for some friction!
Though our Butoh experience has been mostly entertwined, each of us has a different background, Camilla is also a contemporary dancer and choreographer, while Matilde has a strong theater and clown work experience. This of course influences their way of teaching and creating.
