‘At a time when the world seems to be plunging into its own darkness, I believe that Butoh has the tools to reconnect us with the basic things in life, giving us a glimpse of our essence, teaching us to find our inner center from which we are all connected to everything. This show is a poem through dance, a dance between light and shadow, dedicated to this world that I love so much. It is the recognition that our lives are a dance of the universe, a mirror and a reflection of our inner darkness that can guide us to the light.’ – YK

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On December 11, 12, and 13, we welcome artist and performer Yael Karavan to Rua das Gaivotas 6 for a practical Butoh workshop, part of the process of her new solo Outro Lado — a creation that emerges from the interstices of dream and reality, shadows and light.

Over three sessions, Karavan shares more than 30 years of research into this avant-garde dance form born in Japan, taking us on a journey between the body and the invisible, the tangible and the immaterial. We will work on the elements of metamorphosis, presence, contrast, and dance through images — freeing the body from its usual gestures to access a deeper expression.

Inspired by her recent experience with the Brazilian indigenous people Kariri Xocó, Yael builds bridges between Butoh and the ancestral wisdom linked to nature and the four elements.

— 11 + 12 december, 19h–22h

— 13 december, 14h30 – 18h
+ public session: 18h30
+ talk with artist and working group ( ‘Podia ser na Tate mas é aqui’)
after the public session

— at Rua das Gaivotas 6
—  Free admission upon enrolment

The workshop culminates in a brief public sharing of a performance piece created by the working group.

Registration requires attendance at all three training sessions (December 11, 12, and 13); partial attendance is not possible.

YAEL KARAVAN

Award-winning performer, dancer, and international director, based in Lisbon since 2019. Specializing in Butoh dance, Karavan combines strong visual elements with dance and physical theater, often in site-specific contexts. Yael explores artistic languages combining diverse cultural influences, exploring ways of acting and reacting to relevant socio-political issues. Throughout her professional career of almost 30 years, she has created several works for the stage, unconventional spaces, museums, and galleries in various countries. Since 1999, she has been teaching subjects related to her artistic field internationally, namely in the Master’s degree course in Scenic Practices at NOVA University in Lisbon. “Karavan’s physical discipline is extraordinary. Every pulse and every movement counts.” — TOTAL THEATRE MAGAZINE, UK.

Karavan shares three decades of experience and research with Butoh. This workshop would also follow an experience with the Brazilian indigenous people, Kariri Xoco, creating a bridge between Butoh and indigenous wisdom in relation to nature and the four elements. This workshop will work on the elements of metamorphosis, presence, readiness, contrast, dance through images, and tension between opposites. The goal is to free the body from its preconceived mundane set of gestures and movements, thus allowing us to access a deeper and more authentic essence of movement and archetypal expression. Butoh is an avant-garde dance, a philosophy, and a method that was created in Japan in the late 1950s by Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno. It is not a technique, but a method and approach to dance that arises within us and connects us to our essence, nature, universe, and the cycles of life. Questioning how Butoh can be translated to a European body and why Butoh is not only relevant but extremely vital today.