Butoh Performance: Zen Walkers

Synopsis 

Zen Walkers was developed throughout the year 2025 as part of Will Lopes’s Butoh dance program offered through the Buddhist temple of Vienna. Over eight months of study, the group explored the meeting point between the teachings of The Way of the Bodhisattva and the physical discipline of Butoh. The research focused on how presence, compassion, and meditative awareness could be embodied through movement. This collective process culminates in a final intensive weekend workshop that completes the creation phase and prepares the performers for the stage.

Directed by Will Lopes, the performance sets out to weave ancient Bodhisattva teachings into the fabric of contemporary life. Grounded in the present moment, it confronts the conflicts of our age, from war and technological acceleration to the rise of artificial intelligence and the constant pull of virtual worlds. Through the lens of Butoh, Zen Walkers invites the audience to seek pathways of compassion and…