BUTOH TRAINING FOR ACTORS

Sydney’s first and only Butoh training for actors runs out of the Sydney Acting Studio.

Training is aimed at developing presence in actors, other performers, martial artists, or anyone with an interest in Butoh.

The exercises in workshops are designed to increase sensory, physical, and psychological awareness, improve psycho-physical discipline, and enhance your ability to distribute and project energy, all essential elements in the development of presence.

1-Day BUTOH Workshop with Dwayne Lawler

The 1-Day Butoh Workshop with Dwayne Lawler will cover the fundamentals of Butoh training including the use of imagery, visualisation techniques, and ‘choreo-impro’ (improvisation within a structured pattern of movements). The workshop will culminate in a group Butoh performance.

An actor that is not present is one that moves without intention, has a shifting focus and a blurred sense of time. This results from a mind that is either racing ahead or caught in a past moment, instead of remaining in a continuous series of present moments. An actor lacking presence is revealed through a loss of control, a poor sense of self, and the sensation of not being fully grounded.

On the other hand, an actor that is both present and has presence, reacts in a responsive manner with intentional movements, remains in the moment, resonates an energetic stillness, and possesses a tangible confidence that encompasses and emanates from their entire being.

Needless to say, the development of presence should be considered an essential component of any actor’s training regimen.

Based on Dr Dwayne Lawler’s Presence Formula of P = a + d + e (where P = Presence; a = awareness; d = discipline; and e = energy), the exercises in the workshop are designed to increase awareness, improve discipline, and enhance energy, all essential elements in the development of presence.

Learn More – View Videos: www.instagram.com/butohforactors/ 

The workshop is open to actors, other performers, or anyone with an interest in Butoh.  No preparation is required as all exercises are done without the use of vocalisation or scripts.

Areas covered include how to:
> Be present and have presence
> Turn your presence on and off
> Dial your presence energy up and down
> Improve concentrated focus
> Develop 360-degree awareness
> Embed sensations into your ‘bodymind’
> Improvise within a structured pattern
> Connect movements into one flowing action to remain continuously present
> Resonate with energy during moments of action and stillness
> Adapt your rehearsal space to optimize your presence experience
> Embody the presence of props and other objects

MORE INFORMATION: www.butoh.com.au/1-day-butoh-workshop-with-dwayne-lawler/

BOOK NOW: www.trybooking.com/CWSNA

LOCATION: Sydney Acting Studio – 11 Cope St, Redfern NSW 2016

DATE: Sunday, December 8, 2024

TIME: 10am to 4pm

COST: $199.00 (EARLY BIRD available until November 30th: $149.00)

CONTACT: info@butoh.com.au

The 1-Day Butoh Workshop with Dwayne Lawler will increase your sensory, physical, and spatial awareness, enhance psycho-physical discipline, and develop your capacity to distribute, manipulate, and project energy, making you confident that next time you are in an audition studio or performance environment, you are able to ‘be present’ and ‘have presence’.

WHAT IS (ANKOKU) BUTOH?

Ankoku Butoh is a Japanese body-mind performance discipline designed to develop presence in its practitioners.

It was created by dancer Tatsumi Hijikata (1928–1986), alongside fellow dancer and collaborator Kazuo Ohno (1906–2010), in the late 1950s.

‘Ankoku Butoh’ can be broken down into two parts; ‘Ankoku’ (‘Utter Blackness/Darkness’) and ‘Butoh’ (‘Dance Step’). The common English translation for ‘Ankoku Butoh’ is ‘Dance of Darkness’.

The practice of Ankoku Butoh involves a psycho-physical search in which a practitioner metaphorically enters a dark maze and remains lost until they are able to discover the exit – to presence.

Over time, the term ‘Ankoku Butoh’ has been replaced with ‘Butoh’.

ABOUT DR DWAYNE LAWLER

Dwayne Lawler is an actor, Butoh instructor, and martial artist.

He trained in Butoh in Japan under the following teachers: Yoshito Ohno (son of Kazuo Ohno), Yukio Waguri, Saga Kobayashi, Kayo Mikami, Natsu Nakajima, Seisaku & Yuri Nagaoka [Dance Medium], Yuko Kawamoto, and Akaji Maro’s Dairakudakan.

He was the artistic director of Japan-based Rising Sun Theatre and the co-founder and director of the Tokyo Fringe Festival. His acting credits include Macbeth (New National Theatre, Tokyo), Tokyo Vampire (Riant Theatre, New York) and the feature film The Vancouver Asahi.

He is a third-degree black belt in Shotokai karate, a master-teacher of the traditional Japanese energy practice of Komyo Reikido, and a practitioner of the stage-sword combat art of Tate-do.

He has a PhD (Griffith University) in the use of Butoh training to develop presence in actors and has taught his presence development techniques at various training institutions, including Sydney Acting Studio, Griffith University, and as a guest lecturer at NIDA.