Butoh Dance Method

Itto Morita

* A Butoh dancer, starting Butoh dance in 1988 by the name of Morita Itto. GooSayTen is a new Butoh dance group which Itto started in 1996 in Sapporo city. One of the ultimate purposes of his Butoh dance activities is soul healing of his own, and hopefully of others through Butoh performance.

Toshiharu Kasai

T.Kasai retired from the university in 2020, and is Emeritus Professor after mandatory retirement.

*Professor of Department of Clinical Psychology, Sapporo Gakuin University, Japan, teaching Dancetherapy based on Butoh and doing research into the mind-body relationship as a psychologist. His experimental papers are concerned with difficulty of arm relaxation: The idea of de-socialization of socially conditioned bodily reactions by using Butoh Dance Method comes from these experimental studies.

Related papers:

• Kasai,T. & Zaluchyonova,E.A. "An Experimental Study of the Difficulty in the Arm Relaxation Task" The Japanese Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 195-202, Vol.14, No.2, 1996a


• Kasai,T. "The reconfirmed difficulty of the arm relaxation task" Japanese Journal of Hypnosis, 34-40, Vol.41, No.1-2, 1996b


• Kasai,T. "The Psychological Strategies in Arm Relaxation" The Japanese Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 212-219, Vol.12, No.2, 1994
  (The aboves are written in Japanese with English abstract.)

Butoh workshops by Itto and Mika in 2012

We had three intensive butoh workshops in Sapporo, Japan, with participants from U.S.A., U.K., Holland, France, and etc. Mika's psychosomatic approach based on butoh therapy was found very effective also for members of mental clinics, and was always busy having sessions for those people, while missing several opportinities of butoh events abroad. She obtained an art prize for her butoh performance "Princess Mermaid" of 2010-2011.
Itto was busy working for teaching butoh students, and also for his college (department of clinical psychology) and Japan Dance Therapy Association. Inquiries from abroad about butoh workshops increased a lot, and Itto and Mika were preparing to offer more opportunities to study butoh.

Please check workshop information !

Butoh workshops by Itto outside Japan in 2011

Japan was suffering from the damages by those big earthquakes and tsunami, killing about 20 thousands people in the north-east prefectures facing the Pacific ocean on March 11th. Four nuclear power reactors there were broken and "melt-through" of nuclear fuel followed.
We cancelled several Butoh workshops in Japan although we did not have any direct damages in Sapporo: We were totally devastated mentally by those merciless tragedies.

We had Mika's Butoh live performance and a Butoh workshop by Itto in Lucca, Italy in 2011 for ECArTE (European Consortium for Art Therapies Education) where four types of professional therapists such as dance therapists, art therapist, drama therapists, and music therapists gathered every two years.

Butoh workshops by Itto in UK and Europe 2010

• Itto Butoh workshop in Goldsmiths of London
  
  Jan.26, 2010
• GooSayTen Butoh workshop in Barcelona (pdf)
  Feb.7 - 10, 2010
• Itto Butoh workshop in Rotterdam, The Netherlands
  
  Feb. 23-27, 2010

Butoh workshops by Itto in UK and Europe 2009

• Barcelona Butoh workshops (Spain) (October 5-11, 2009)
  http://www.barcelonabutoh.com
• Butoh Workshop in London 2009
  Tuesday and Thursday morning lesson from Oct.13 to Nov.5,2009
• Itto's Butoh workshop in Rotterdam (Netherlands)
  November 20-21, 2009
  


• Itto Butoh workshop in Goldsmiths University of London
  
  Dec.8, 2009

Butoh workshops in Sapporo, Japan 2008

• Butoh workshops [Newspaper article]

Butoh performance and workshops in Boston, Amherst, U.S.A. 2006

• Boston: Zero-Arrow Theatre
  
  
• Amherst: Boker Auditorium in University of Massachusetts
  

Butoh Live and workshop scenes in Bilbao,Spain 2005

Workshop scenes in Bilbao, Spain

Psychosomatic Learning and Butoh Workshop in Poland 2003

• Butoh workshops and performance in Gdansk
  with photos and Polish newspaper articles.
  
  
• "Human Body - a Universal Sign" International Conference in Krakow
  with photos and Polish newspaper articles.
  

Psychosomatic Learning and Butoh Workshop in 2001

• May 9-11 in Szczecin,Poland at Kana Teatr.
  
• May 13 Lecture about Butoh dance in Szczecin, Poland at Kana Teatr.
• Oct.7-0 in Kalamazoo, (MI) U.S.A at Wellspring Theater.
• Oct.11-12 in Asheville, (NC) at Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre.
  
  
• Oct.14 in Raleigh, (NC) for 36th Annual Conference of American Dance Therapy Association. at ADTA2001

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Psychosomatic Learning and Butoh Workshop in 2000 outside Japan

• Oct.28 in Seattle, WA for 35th American Dance Therapy Association.
• Nov.3-4 in Vancouver, Canada for Vancouver International Dance Festival.
• Nov.6-7 in Asheville, NC, for Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre.
• Nov.8 in Asheville, NC, at Warren Willson College

* Every workshop is based on Itto's Butoh Dance Method.

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Seattle Butoh Workshops of Itto's Butoh Dance Method in 1999

Seattle, U.S.A., May 13-14, 17, 1999

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Ex...it! '99 - 2nd International Butoh Symposium & Dance Exchange Project

Schloss Broellin,Germany. Aug.1-31, 1999

Psychosomatic Learning and Butoh Workshop by Itto's Butoh Dance Method

A month long integrating event of Butoh was carried out in Schloss Broellin and Berlin. Fourteen Butoh dancers (German, French, Russian, English, American, Canadian, and Japanese) exchaged their methods and ways of Butoh dancing each other for one week. Around fourty participants were trained and choreographed by the Butoh dancers for Butoh demonstrations.
An international symposium on Butoh was held, and journalists, philosophers and Butoh dancers/choreographers had a hot discussion.
Intensive performance events in Berlin and in Szczecin(poland) were held and attracted German and Polish audiences.

In 6th International Conference on Conflict Resolution

St.Petersburg, Russia. May7 - May14,1998

"A peaceful dimension of mind-body through Butoh dance method"

This was a Butoh dance workshop (4 hours) given by Kasai, with introductory relaxation methods called "Karada Hogushi (body untying)" and several basic exercises of bodily movement used in Butoh dance. As shown by the fact that two additional workshops were held at participants' request after the conference, Kasai's Butoh dance workshop was welcome and successful in St.Petersburg, Russia.

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In 4th International Seminar for Humanistic Pyschology and Pedagogy

Rivne, Ukraine. Jun.14 - 18,1998
"Congruence of mind-body through Butoh dance method"

Kostiuk Institute of Psychology in Kiev organized the seminar in Rivne city, located between Kiev and the historical city Livov. Most of the participants were from Ukraine, Russia, Poland, and one from Japan. After reading the paper, Kasai had Butoh dance workshop with 30-40 participants and more than 100 audience, showing relaxation method called "karada hogushi" and Butoh dance exercises. Another Butoh workshop was held at Kostiuk Institute, Kiev. Both were successfull and very much welcomed. As Butoh dancer, Ippei Yamada, taught Butoh dance and choreographed in Kiev Ballet Theater this year, my visit seems to be the second presence of Butoh in Ukraine, an introduction Butoh from the psychological point of view.