STATES: OBSERVATION to Premiere at 3AM Theatre

Vangeline Theater, home of the New York Butoh Institute, will present STATES: OBSERVATION, a Butoh dance trilogy, from March 5–7 at 7:30 p.m. at 3AM Theatre in Astoria, Queens. Tickets will start at $16.79. The production will be presented in association with the New York Butoh Institute.

STATES: OBSERVATION: A Butoh Dance Trilogy is devised and performed by Scoop Slone. The trilogy—Origin, Mutation, and Entropy at Absolute Zero—draws on concepts from quantum physics, examining the idea that reality is probabilistic and undefined until observed. The work considers how the act of observation alters momentum and creates uncertainty, using Butoh movement language to explore identity, memory, and perception.

The trilogy reflects on the fluidity of the self through fragmentation of identity and memory, drawing from personal and collective queer narratives. Themes include isolation, survival, and multiplicity, with the performer observing the self as both subject and object. The concept of MA, the Japanese aesthetic of negative space, serves as a structural and philosophical element, representing transitional space between identity states and aligning with Zen Buddhist notions of emptiness as potential rather than absence.

The three works were developed between 2023 and 2025 through site-specific and festival presentations, including appearances at the NYC Queer Butoh Festival, Excavate: An NYC Butoh new works in progress festival, Amsterdam Butoh Festival, and Performatica in Venice, Italy. A documentary short of Entropy at Absolute Zero by videographer Shimmyo Shuta was screened at Mana Contemporary, hosted by the Jonas Mekas Archives, and the work was also screened at the International Behavioral Art Festival in Dehradun, India. In 2025, the trilogy underwent a developmental residency at 3AM Theatre before being presented at Kamaitachi Museum in Tohoku, Japan, for the 60th anniversary of the collaboration between Butoh founder Hijikata Tatsumi and photographer Hosoe Eikoh, as well as additional presentations in Otaru and Aomori, Japan.

Sound design is by Scoop Slone and Jorge Sanders, with live improvisation and audio manipulation by Sanders and supplemental mixing by Oscar Suh Rodriguez for Mutation. Costumes and installation are by Slone. Lighting and production support are by Kyle Driggs, Artistic Director of 3AM Theatre.

Scoop Slone is a New York City-based Butoh performance artist whose work explores identity and memory through Butoh, garment-based performance, drag, installation, and experimental music theatre. Jorge Sanders is an electronic musician and sound artist whose collaborations with Slone focus on spatial dynamics and immersive audio environments. Kyle Driggs is a writer, performer, and designer specializing in contemporary circus and physical theatre, and a graduate of École Nationale de Cirque de Montréal. He has performed with companies including Cirque du Soleil’s Paramour on Broadway and The Big Apple Circus.

3AM Theatre is a multidisciplinary performance company blending contemporary circus, modern dance, and physical theatre with kinetic sculpture and lighting design. Vangeline Theater is a New York-based Butoh dance company and home of the New York Butoh Institute, which presents classes, workshops, festivals, and community programs focused on the advancement of Butoh.

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