SUMMER BUTOH OBSESSIONS with MoMo

I must apoligize for the slim pickings at this blog of late. The DailyDance practice and my super full touring/performing/teaching schedule have sapped much of my time and creative juices for writing. I have 2 very special articles in the works now, yet it is probably all for the best that I am spending relatively less time on the computer. One article is about "THE 12 SENSES" as a wellspring for butoh and life. The other is about "THE INITIATORY PROCESS OF PERFORMANCE: the 3-phase butoh rite-of-passage journey." Along with the DailyDance practice, these two themes have been my current obsessions since January. Stay tuned for these to appear here soon.
Until then.....check this out!

"COMING TO OUR SENSES: Wellspring for Life and Butoh" is an ongoing Research, Performance and Workshop Series inspired by Butoh founder Kazuo Ohno and the erotic and ever nourishing wellspring of SENSUAL EXPERIENCE.

Maureen guides an initiatory butoh journey through our 12 SENSES to enliven and enrich your performances, creative & ecstatic practices. You will awaken both mindfulness and playfulness; engage in deeply moving connections with self, other beings and all of life. With the senses awakened you can easily dance between body and soul, matter and spirit, feeling and action. You leave with a sensual "tool kit" of practices to support and ripen your artistic and everyday awakenings and assist you in navigating your creative journey for a lifetime. These are simple EVERYDAY practices appropriate for anyBODY, anyPLACE, anyTIME to develop freedom & mastery in performance, art and life.
Subscribe to and Check the latest Performance/Workshop Tour Schedule Updates anytime here:
http://lifeartmastery.com

THIS SPRING & SUMMER 2009 YOU can JOIN and WITNESS
MoMo's CURRENT BUTOH OBSESSIONS
when she comes to a space near YOU.

SPRING/SUMMER 2009 "MoMo" Maureen Freehill, MFA is
APPEARING AND TEACHING at:

WHIDBEY ISLAND, WA
JUNE 27
AND 8/29, 9/12(Vashon Island), 9/19, 10/24. 11/14
11-3PM Workshop
2-4PM "Mad" TeaParty Potluck Beach&Garden Performance
Deer Lagoon Grange, Langley (except June 27: RSVP for this location)
$40-50 for 6 hour event- sliding scale OR work exchange
Contact MoMo for info

JAPAN Tokyo/Yokohama Area
BUTOH 50TH ANNIVERSARY PILGRIMAGE
JUNE 3-16
about & $1000 with food/lodging (without airfare).

BRIETENBUSH HOT SPRINGS, OR
SOLSTICE GATHERING
JUNE 18-21
Sold Out (check on-line for cancellations)

AT 11,000 FT in Rocky Mountains, CO
WILDERDANCE HUT TRIP
JULY 9-13
By Invitation.

BOULDER, CO
ROCKY MOUNTAIN BUTOH DANCE RETREAT IN NATURE
JULY 17-21
SYZYGY Retreat Center in Rollinsville
$270-500 including live food/lodging

BOULDER, CO
COMING TO OUR SENSES: Butoh Workshop & Performance
JULY 23 Thursday
Workshop 11-2 PM 10/hr sliding scale
Performance 7-8:30 PM 10 dollars
Wesley Chapel Boulder, CO
Call 206 855 5836 for info/registration

SEATTLE, WA
THE MARYS PROJECT
"Vanishing Point"
Butoh Performance Inspired by the many Sacred Feminine Images of Mary
Appearing with Joan Laage, Sheri Brown, Diana Garcia, Mary Cultrera, Helen Thorson, Vanessa Skantze
Friday, JULY 31 8PM
The Good Shepherd Chapel Theater
Contact: DavidThornbrugh@hotmail.com

SEATTLE, WA
AUGUST 3-9
SEATTLE FESTIVAL OF DANCE IMPROVISATION (SFDI)
Workshop Aug 3--3:15-5:15pm
Performance Aug 7 & 8
Register at DAG website--link above


ASHEVILLE NORTH CAROLINA
AUGUST 11-16
ALTERNATE ROOTS ANNUAL MEETING
Register at Alternate Roots website--
http://www.alternateroots.org/

Also TBA for August: CORTES ISLAND, BC & SARASOTA, FL workshop & performance

MAUREEN "mOMo" FREEHILL, MFA
is known for innovative ways of fusing eastern and western practices of somatics and spirituality and viewing performance as a vehicle for personal, cultural and global awakening. She has been a performer and instructor for over 25 years and holds an MFA in Directing/Asian Performance from University of Hawaii, Yoga Teacher Certification and Dance Therapy training at Naropa Institute. She lived, studied and performed for 5 years in Japan with butoh masters Kazuo and Yoshito Ohno. She leads workshops and performs internationally including past events with Katsura Kan, Akira Kasai, Koichi and Hiroko Tamano, musician Kitaro and Noh master Kanze Hideo. The Pacific Northwest is her current springboard for touring nationally and internationally. In 2008 Maureen founded the website "BUTOH," a virtual international gathering place for butoh enthusiasts at http://butohdance.ning.com. In celebration of the 50th anniversary Year of Butoh: 2009 she will present at least one butoh dance performance daily and post it at http://dailydance.net
Her other websites include: http://maureenfreehill.net & http://lifeartmastery.com

CONTACT: info@maureenfreehill.net
206 855 5836 for info and registration about any of these events.

ITS SPRING!
COME Out of your damp and cool hovels.
COME As you are.
COME With whatever you got.
COME Enjoy diving and surfacing together.
COMING TO OUR SENSES!

momo-sites:
channel to celebrate the 50th Anniversary YearOfButoh and daily life@
http://www.dailydance.net

international participatory butoh community founded by momo@
http://butohdance.ning.com

personal website with bio and butoh performance/workshop archives@
http://maureenfreehill.com



RECENT PAST:

BELLINGHAM, WA
MAY 19
Western Washington University Class
By invitation.

SEATTLE, WA
BARE BONES BENEFIT!
Performances . Auction . Party to benefit Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation
Sat MAY 23 . 7pm
Annex Theatre . 11th Ave at Pike . Seattle
$20-40 Donation Suggested
Tickets/Information: 206.686.SFAD info@danceartgroup.org

EUGENE, OR
University of Oregon Theater Department
ECO-DRAMA SYMPOSIUM May 22-31
MAY 30
9-11 AM workshop
12-1 PM performance
$5-10 each

EVERY DAY DANCE

When I committed to dance a new butoh piece every day of 2009 in celebration of Butoh's 50th anniversary, I had no idea what would actually happen. I had no ideas about where or how or with whom or when I would dance. I just made the resolution and started that first day at the Contact Improvisation Jam in Boulder. I handed my camera to a stranger who was thrilled to be a part of this journey at its inauguration and we began. I say WE because if I were doing this for myself or alone I would have never made it past the first few days. It has been in the interactions and collaborations that spontaneously emerge that I have found the truest inspiration to continue. I have learned the most from my collaborative partners, many of whom are totally unaware they are part of the dance.

So many amazing things have been revealed through this project that has now become my new daily creative, dance and spiritual practice--replacing any sitting meditation or structured exercises in favor of the mystery of the emerging dance of EVERY DAY LIFE.

Surprisingly, I began to view most every minute of every day through the lens of "This is my dance...how will I share this with the world?" And "How can this become an artful gift to inspire others to dance, to be aware of the body as a treasure chest, to see each place we are, each being we meet, each act we do as precious and essentially perfect just as it is." "How can each dance I create be a communion, be in partnership and relationship with all I am experiencing?"

I have been investigating, teaching and practicing about these questions for years in the studio, among other "artists" and on stages. However, NOW I believe that for the survival of human life on this planet (and I do think it is worth continuing) any divisions between "EVERYDAY" activities and choices and ARTISTIC ones must be dissolved. soulful and masterful activities fully and authentically lived and shared for the good of all The creative soulful questions and actions of artists must be embodied in action EVERY day and EVERY where we are....with EVERY thing and EVERY BODY.

This can only be done step by simple step. In fact, the English translation I most often hear for the Japanese word "Butoh"is just that simple---"dance step."

舞 踏 definition here

"BU:" dance; circle; flit; wheel
"TOH:" step; appraise; carry through; trample

Now some people still think, as many did in 1959 in Japan when Butoh was born, that some people have no business making art and that what these "commoners" reveal from within creatively is far too simple and far less valuable than the fine arts of the CLASSY and do not fit the defined social mores and boundaries between right and wrong.
I cringe to think that the "BUTOH WORLD" is moving in this direction of exclusivity as well only 50 short years since its screaming conception.

So far some of the daily butoh dances I have shared could be seen as "pedestrian,"not highly crafted or skilled, even "folksy." Not "real butoh." As "free" as I may think I am , through this process I get to see the vestiges of my own internalized prisons and blocks to really dancing freely. I honestly felt some hesitation to reveal this at first to the "ART WORLD," concerned I would be judged as sloppy or half baked or whatever art critics say these days....I could loose respect as a "professional." I persisted. I have to break my own chains, knock down my own walls to true freedom to reveal (and LOVE) who I am anywhere, anytime, with any BODY.

All this said, I still believe in the Japanese aesthetic of restraint as a way to revelation and sometimes I do feel I move too much, do too much, express too much out of habit. And, I really do want to have your feedback, comments, and even highly educated artistic critique of these works I am sharing with you and the world. Performance can not exist in a vaccuum and your responses and reflections can only add to the blossoming of this practice and its meaning.
So.....
TELL ME PLEASE:
Which are your favorites?
What made you cringe?
What do you think is a waste of time?
What is or is not artful, soulful, important or meaningful in what you see?
What does or does not make you feel grateful for having lived?
How could this practice and these pieces be even more revelatory?

You can comment below the videos themselves or send me a message at the address below.

Thank you for your witnessing and your participation in this (at least) Year Long Daily Butoh Dance Practice. Thank you for SUBSCRIBING to the channel at http://dailydance.net
where the videos will be delivered directly to your inbox weekly and updated by RSS feed the minute I post them.
I have one student who has now committed to join me in this. I am gratefully mentoring and communicating with her daily, offering one another mutual reflection and feedback.
If you have any attraction to doing this at all....please contact me.
If you have any dances to share....
If you would like my support or coaching about how YOU TOO CAN DO THIS please contact me right away at info@maureenfreehill.net

I will be VERY HAPPY to have you JOIN ME IN THIS EVERY DAY DANCE.


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