Presenting Ken Mai from Helsinki, Finland April 5-9th, 2017.
Ken Mai will offer a four-day Butoh dance workshop concentrating on yogic warm-ups and improvisations through visual stimulation to develop each participant’s poetic movement. Ken Mai believes dance to be an offering of the soul to the divinity of life through movement and imagination. The workshop is open to all, no previous experience is needed.
In Ken Mai’s words, “It is a practice helping us to understand our connection to nature by appreciating our body, and the life force offered to us by the universe.
Seek the essence of beauty, and recognize darkness and lightness innature. When you dance with a pure heart, the beauty of individual dance naturally appears. The important thing is to first purify ourselves through the practice of body, mind, breathing, and senses before moving into the deep transcendental state of imagination and transformation work.
The feeling of invisible energy movements are found behind the visible movement. Open your heart and feel the energy of movement and pure consciousness to open your creative instinct.”
About Ken Mai
Ken Mai is a Japanese butoh artist, choreographer, teacher and also yoga practitioner based in Helsinki since 2006. He has studied Butoh with Kazuo Ohno and has also studied Tatsumi Hijikata’s method in Japan in the 90s. He has been practicing butoh for 25 years, and has a background in gymnastics, martial arts, acting, ballet, German expressionist dance, singing, drums, and shiatsu. Ken Mai also practiced Zen meditation for 16 years at a monastery in Kyoto, Japan. He received a Hatha Yoga Teacher Training Certification in India in 2014. Ken Mai has been performing, directing, teaching and collaborating with various artists all over the world. Notable festivals: WOMAD festival UK, City of London festival(UK), Edinburgh festival(UK), Paris butoh festival(Fra), Barcelona butoh festival(Spa), Mexico Dead festival(Mex), Flow festival(Fin), World village festival(Fin), Isfit festival(Nor), Open look International dance festival(Rus) etc.
Find more details on Battles: SS3 Post-Butoh Festival at butohchicago.com.
This workshop is for professional dancers and artists with a movement practice. Made possible by Holly Chernobyl, who brings Ken Mai to the U.S. We look forward to hosting her with our new partners at Japanese Culture Center – 日本文化会館
WHERE
Japanese Culture Center, 1016 W Belmont Ave, Chicago
WHEN
Wed April 26, 1-5pm
Thurs April 27, 1-5pm
Fri April 28, 1-5pm
Sun April 30, 1-5pm
Check out our Festival Passes for combined options.
If you wish to avoid online fees and want to pay by check or paypal please contact butohchicago@gmail.com. Tickets are non-refundable.
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