Mostly regarded as ugly, butoh can usually be seen as brutal and grotesque. With strained gestures and forced body positions, it appears to be far and distant from what popular imagination tends to associate with vibrating in and expressing self-love.
From a perspective, butoh can be defined as the dissolution of boundaries between body, mind, soul and spirit. In fact, for many artists the white paint on their skins parts from the will to vanish their identity and thus ego. This is an interesting point, related to the concept of unity, and one of the cornerstones of Eastern Asian mindset, in which the individual is supposed not to overshine the society they are submerged in. I remember exchanging some ideas and perceptions with a fellow butoh artist from Japanese descent, but living in London. Having both taken seminars in Eastern Asia as well as the Western world, we agreed on the fact that a core difference between the two supracultures is exactly that: the extreme opposition as for the ways individuality is appraised. Whereas in the West we are constantly encouraged -if not pushed- to develop our uniqueness and stand out and outshine anyone who would dare to step in our way, Eastern cultures tend to hold hive mentality in a higher esteem.
I remember yet another conversation I had with my first butoh teacher, in which he would address the importance of not getting lost in the delight of the body, thus inside ourselves, expressionless, like trapped within our vessel. In a way, he would say that as artists it is our duty to express ourselves, to let all the movement and e-motion from inside, to shine through our pores. In this sense, if we consider butoh as the in-between space, the dynamic of opposites -Tao itself-, it sounds aligned to always be seeking for that duality, if not unstable balance. Like a pendulum, if we want movement to continue (after all, we are dancers), we need to swing or play between the opposites. Butoh is neither dark not bright, butoh is neither internal not external, butoh is neither traditional nor avant garde.... and the list continues. It is both: again, reality behind the Maya is conformed by ands, not ors. Stagnation comes when we get stuck in fixed mental structures and definitions. Actually, the roots of butoh run deep into apparently opposite artistic expressions: from Noh Theater to Western contemporary dance, from Japanese traditions to German expressionism, from martial arts to mime theatre.
From a perspective, butoh can be defined as the dissolution of boundaries between body, mind, soul and spirit. In fact, for many artists the white paint on their skins parts from the will to vanish their identity and thus ego. This is an interesting point, related to the concept of unity, and one of the cornerstones of Eastern Asian mindset, in which the individual is supposed not to overshine the society they are submerged in. I remember exchanging some ideas and perceptions with a fellow butoh artist from Japanese descent, but living in London. Having both taken seminars in Eastern Asia as well as the Western world, we agreed on the fact that a core difference between the two supracultures is exactly that: the extreme opposition as for the ways individuality is appraised. Whereas in the West we are constantly encouraged -if not pushed- to develop our uniqueness and stand out and outshine anyone who would dare to step in our way, Eastern cultures tend to hold hive mentality in a higher esteem.
I remember yet another conversation I had with my first butoh teacher, in which he would address the importance of not getting lost in the delight of the body, thus inside ourselves, expressionless, like trapped within our vessel. In a way, he would say that as artists it is our duty to express ourselves, to let all the movement and e-motion from inside, to shine through our pores. In this sense, if we consider butoh as the in-between space, the dynamic of opposites -Tao itself-, it sounds aligned to always be seeking for that duality, if not unstable balance. Like a pendulum, if we want movement to continue (after all, we are dancers), we need to swing or play between the opposites. Butoh is neither dark not bright, butoh is neither internal not external, butoh is neither traditional nor avant garde.... and the list continues. It is both: again, reality behind the Maya is conformed by ands, not ors. Stagnation comes when we get stuck in fixed mental structures and definitions. Actually, the roots of butoh run deep into apparently opposite artistic expressions: from Noh Theater to Western contemporary dance, from Japanese traditions to German expressionism, from martial arts to mime theatre.
Neptunian energy can be tricky: even if it invites us to enjoy the connection with the Divine, exalts our supernatural gifts and enhances our relation with the dream realm (all of which are essential for any butoh artist, since -after all- we are channelling with our bodies), it can keep us lost in the higher chakras, neglecting and undermining the lower ones. It can keep us in the mind, preventing us from physically enjoying every inch of our bodies. Pablo Flores Laymuns, a Chilean astrologer I personally recommend following, explained in his video about the Full Solar Eclipse in Cancer (on July 2nd 2019) that unless we truly open our root chakra, we will always feel like a foreigner -or alien- on Earth, thus feeling unhappy, frustrated and incomplete. After years of rejecting my own incarnation, feeling like a starseed willing to "go back home", I am finally on my way in this reality. Through my own path, I have realised our "mission" is not to go somewhere else, better and brighter, but to bring Heaven on Earth, to connect the opposites, to inhabit ambiguity (embracing duality, yet vibrating in unity). If we run away to our unicorn cloud (which I have done many times) we are avoiding ourselves, our responsibility as incarnated beings, thus denying our self-love.
Butoh is a tool for life. Inviting us to connect the opposites, to inhabit them, to give space for them to express, it gives us the Magic Wand of the Magician (Arcana I) to manifest any reality, to create a synergy between the chakras and to be(come) who we envision. I remember debating about the nature of butoh with an ex boyfriend of mine. As a filmmaker, he would stand for the purity of art, warning me to avoid just focusing on its healing nature. Again, to me butoh is both: of course we shan't forget it IS art, thus dare to cross the imaginary line of the intimate to bring it to the world as our personal expression (no need to fill a theatre, just to leave our comfort zone and transcend any resistances related to externalising our self and anchoring our higher chakras), and it IS healing. But here's the trick: healing (therefore self-love) comes through that artistic expression, through that connection of the opposites, as the highest versions of ourselves will manifest when we dare to embrace our lights and shadows, our souls and bodies, our infinity and our limits, our eternity and our incarnation. And -again- butoh stands for that simultaneity of dualities.
Butoh is a tool for life. Inviting us to connect the opposites, to inhabit them, to give space for them to express, it gives us the Magic Wand of the Magician (Arcana I) to manifest any reality, to create a synergy between the chakras and to be(come) who we envision. I remember debating about the nature of butoh with an ex boyfriend of mine. As a filmmaker, he would stand for the purity of art, warning me to avoid just focusing on its healing nature. Again, to me butoh is both: of course we shan't forget it IS art, thus dare to cross the imaginary line of the intimate to bring it to the world as our personal expression (no need to fill a theatre, just to leave our comfort zone and transcend any resistances related to externalising our self and anchoring our higher chakras), and it IS healing. But here's the trick: healing (therefore self-love) comes through that artistic expression, through that connection of the opposites, as the highest versions of ourselves will manifest when we dare to embrace our lights and shadows, our souls and bodies, our infinity and our limits, our eternity and our incarnation. And -again- butoh stands for that simultaneity of dualities.
Funnily enough, some days ago I had a conversation about this same topic with a former fellow butoh partner. Despite both of us being active and creative people (and having always had an interest in collaborating), at a moment we saw ourselves mirroring each other together with a pile of excuses not to take the step and leave self-compassion behind. When we acnowledged our pattern, we realised there were two paths opening up for us: either staying in our self pity and compassion and allowing excuses to comfort us, or to take the plunge and step into our power, helping each other turn the cycle into a positive, virtuous circle, an ascending spiral. Working with groups -especially those meant to empower each other- has taught me that we either fall into the same old patterns related to our inner wounded child, or we take responsibility as adults, simplify things and assume our responsibility as (co)creators of our reality. And here is where self-love steps in, as being responsible for ourselves in the here and now, acknowledging we are that unstable balance of dualities: spiritual and material, social and individual, limited and limitless.
The whole function of this particular eclipse is exactly that: to leave the well-known (comfortable) ways behind, to push us to abandon old patterns which are preventing us from stepping up to our highest versions, so that we can become our truest selves, unconditionally loving each aspect of our mind, soul and body. To finally come to unity with ourselves (thus the universe), to love ourselves by acknowledging and bringing light to all of our parts. Just like Butoh, which was born to bring light to so much pain and destruction (maybe even fueled by it). Just like Hijikata and Ohno, apparently opposites, who merged in a dance that has brought so many insights and wisdom to humanity.
The whole function of this particular eclipse is exactly that: to leave the well-known (comfortable) ways behind, to push us to abandon old patterns which are preventing us from stepping up to our highest versions, so that we can become our truest selves, unconditionally loving each aspect of our mind, soul and body. To finally come to unity with ourselves (thus the universe), to love ourselves by acknowledging and bringing light to all of our parts. Just like Butoh, which was born to bring light to so much pain and destruction (maybe even fueled by it). Just like Hijikata and Ohno, apparently opposites, who merged in a dance that has brought so many insights and wisdom to humanity.