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TEMPORAL TRANSFORMATIONS
Butoh: Temporal Transformations
In the 1960’s, the avant-garde arts in Japan flourished in an atmosphere of protest and civil dis-obedience. Japanese identity was confusingly intertwined with American values and cultural transformation. Within this bewildering environment, performing arts such as Butoh Dance emerged, touching on and deconstructing the extremes between Western modern dance and Japanese traditional arts.
“Where am I?” Our location hovers within the play of time. Suspend, extend and transform the temporal experience with physical precision and imagistic fluidity. Break through the restraints of linear progression. When the gates of mind, energy and body open, the dance emerges.
We build clarity and stability through exercises. Then we throw it all away. The chaotic stream of images and impulses enact their own logic, a wild creature in the woods.
The workshop will integrate improvisational training and form based guidance to welcome the unknown.
SHINICHI IOVA-KOGA serves as the Artistic Director of the dance theatre company inkBoat, founded by Iova-Koga in 1998. He has toured North America, Europe, South Korea and Japan, often collaborating with local artists in museums, theaters, studios and site-specific locations.
As a performer, Iova-Koga’s long history with Butoh lurks within his presence, while his years of commitment to the art of improvisation unearth actions not beholden to a particular tradition. A lifetime in the martial arts and his deep investigation into the Daoist internal arts deeply inform his concepts of body, energy and motion. As a director, he primarily works with scores that pit meticulous structure with vibrant agency.
inkBoat and Iova-Koga have been honored by numerous awards and grants, including 6 Bay Area “Izzie” awards and grants from NEA, MAP fund, New England Foundation for the Arts, California Arts Council, Rainin Foundation, Creative Work Fund, and Gerbode Foundation.
He is the editor of the book “95 Rituals,” a tribute to Anna Halprin, and a contributing writer to “The Routledge Companion to Butoh Performance.” He is featured in the book “Butoh America.”
Iova-Koga works primarily in San Francisco, New York and Luzern, Switzerland.
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