butoh workshop by Vanessa Skantze at University of Glasgow

May 2007 in Glasgow, Scotland

Vanessa Skantze of Death Posture led an intensive one-week workshop on butoh dance and improvised movement for a group of theater students at Glasgow University in May 2007. Accompanied by musicians celadon and natazatán, Vanessa introduced the students to the concept of butoh dance, led them through a number of movement exercises, and worked with the students and instructor P.A. Skantze to create a "work-in-progress" based on Heinrich von Kleist's Penthesilea.

The participants, as theater students, had mostly never been trained in butoh or any sort of improvisational movement. In addition to the butoh techniques, Vanessa also led the students through a series of yoga warm-ups to help them familiarize themselves with the instrument of their bodies.

At the conclusion of the workshop, the students performed the work-in-progress, a piece titled "KusseBisse: KissingBiting."

for information about workshops, contact vanessa@deathposture.org