Butoh Cards - Intensive Course with Will Lopes

“The human being is a symbolic animal”.

Millennia  of human culture's wisdom and knowledge have been synthesized into  symbolic forms, making them accessible and enduring through time. The  Tarot card deck is one such collection of symbols that narrates the  evolution of Life in the form of human existence.

The  Tarot game provides us with tools to develop processes of  self-awareness, transformation and understanding life in broader and  deeper contexts. For Butoh, this provides us with elements of movement  deconstruction, breaking pre-established notions, inviting us to explore  new dance forms through a profound immersion into oneself, the game,  and the comprehension of what Butoh dance could become when applied  within the context of contemporary performative art.

On  this path, the rich elements of study, work, dance, and research offer  us an incredibly fertile environment to encounter the magic unexpectedly  through miraculous quantum leaps. Ultimately, all these journeys will  be brought to the stage, grounded in the Tree of Life — a foundation,  form, game, and ritual to be enjoyed as a collective performance open to  an audience.

There will be 18 hours of work with brief intervals:

2 hours - Introductory Butoh Dance exercises  2 hours - Tarot Card studies and dance experiments

2 hours - Introduction to the idea of Dance, Ecstasy and Shamanic Journeys 2 hours - Techniques of play, ritual, dance and celebration for performance

2 hours - Dance and voice meditation 2 hours - Personal oracle and performance development

2 hours - The Tree of Life and Journeys of Ecstasy  2 hours - Techniques of play, ritual, and performance

2 hours - Preparation and public performance.

2-3 of December 2023

Sa 02.12 > 10.00 - 18.00 Su 03.12 > 10.00 - 18.00       > Performance 20.00

Participation  open to all who have an experience or curiosity of movement practices,  art and nature. No previous experience  needed. An open group presentation will happen the last day of workshop.

Contribution: 240€ - Normal price from Nov 10  210€ - Normal price + bring a friend

210€ - late bird price from Oct 10  180€ - late bird price + bring a friend

180€ - early bird

Registration:  viennabutohfest@gmail.com

Will Lopes is a Brazilian Butoh dancer, actor, performer, body trainer and theatre director with 22 years of experience.  He  graduated in Theatre at the University of Brasilia, studied theatre,  dance, dance-theatre, physical theatre, Butoh, circus arts, martial  arts, and vertical dance.

After  his master's degree in Communication and Semiotics, he moved to Europe,  where he teaches and performs in different places, e.g. at the Austrian  Cultural Forum in Warszaw (PL), Kulturelle Landpartie in Hitzacker  (DE), Tanz*Hotel Festival in Vienna (AT), Performance Brunch (AT). Among  his last projects is the creation of the Vienna Hybrid Butoh Art  Festival.