An Arturo Vega Project Presents QUEER BUTOH Transcending the Identity of Sex

Howl! Happening in association with The New York Butoh Institute and The Vangeline Theater is pleased to present an evening of Butoh performances and community discussion with five LGBT/Queer Butoh artists. The two evenings feature performances followed by a panel discussion. The artists will talk about how Butoh has been instrumental in articulating or facing the unique challenges they face as LGBT artists.

"Butoh is essentially the dance of the marginalized, and the LGBT population is still largely marginalized in the world," says Vangeline France, curator of this series. "Most of these artists feel that they found a place of freedom and acceptance through Butoh and it was important to give them a voice to express this."

In Butoh, the desire to play with notions of both "masculine" and "feminine" has been expressed in performance methodology by both male and female artists. The five contemporary artists will create new work and speak about how they integrate Butoh into their art and lives.

At its origin, the introduction of Butoh in Japan was widely controversial. The first Butoh performance Kinjiki (Forbidden Colors), created by Tatsumi Hijikata in 1958, caused deep repulsion amongst its spectators. Inspired by the work of homosexual author Jean Genet, Kinjiki took its name and inspiration from Yukio Mishima's book Forbidden Color and dealt with homosexuality, a profoundly taboo subject at the time.

Featured performers will be:
Malin Andreasson
I feel that there are parts in me which are damaged because of the constant daily impression of how a woman should be, look like, act like, live like...I find that Butoh is helping me as a femme queer artist feel that I am allowed to merge in whichever sex or sexuality I want.

Will Atkins (Thurs, Nov. 10 only)
While I feel like other performance genres allow me to explore certain facets at certain times, Butoh allows me to access a space within myself that is everything and nothing. This includes aspects I sometimes feel closed off to, including my sexuality; a part of myself I sometimes find myself at odds with.

Mandy Caughey
Despite my absolute attraction to women, I often struggle with feeling like I fully fit in with the LGBTQ identity.... In dancing Butoh, I fit in. I feel completely secure and absolute in my sense of self and sexuality. All my questions cease as my body answers.

Shawn Escarciga (Wed, Nov. 9 only)
Butoh is a form and a discipline that allows me to express my "otherness" safely without label, without gender, without restriction of time and place. It has been a validating process for me that is ongoing-I am allowed to be what I am and continue to unfold into more of myself without fear of persecution, rejection or violence.

Davey Mitchell
"There is no place like HOME," is the phrase that comes to mind when I think of Butoh. "Home" in the sense of finding one's self-a completeness of being, and within that being is your journey, your life experiences, struggles and accomplishments, happiness and sorrow.