Butoh emerged from Japan and is known for its unique approach to creating performance. It combines powerful moments of stillness and slow motion with highly transformed, extreme states. Unmistakably body-based, butoh balances inner life with outer form, and cultivates the imaginative virtuosity of the performer alongside their physical skill.

In this workshop, Fran Barbe introduces participants to a variety of ways to explore butoh using the whole body. The work uses clearly defined structures to guide participants’ experiences of the principles of butoh, as well as providing opportunities for more open improvisation.

Frances Barbe has been training in butoh and performing butoh-based work since 1992. She has created a number of group works for her London-based company – Fran Barbe Dance Theatre – and toured extensively as a solo performer. She has extensive teaching experience, including at LISPA and the Central School of Speech and Drama. She is co-founder of London’s Theatre Training Initiative and was artistic director of two international butoh festivals in London in 2005 and 2009.