- Fall 2010, Butoh AGOGO. DAIPAN's first fundraiser. An evening of performance, video, food and more. Place & time TBD
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What is butoh dance? Butoh is a contemporary avant-garde dance that emerged after World War II in Japan (1959) as a reaction to the westernization of the Japanese culture. Butoh’s roots can be traced from traditional Japanese arts, such as Kabuki and Noh Theater, and a strong influence of German Expressionism. This unique movement practice weaves dance, theater, improvisation, and imagery among other art forms, to manifest a unique performing art form that is both controversial and universal in its expression. Its founders, rebellious Tatsumi Hijikata and poetic Kazuo Ohno, rejected the ballet and modern dance of the West and wanted to rescue Japanese body/identity. Hijikata called it, Ankoku Butoh (darkness dance) and wanted to uncover the dance already happening in the body, “to discover the beauty in the darkness.” On the other hand, Ohno, middle-aged when joinning Hijikata in 1952, and already a leader of modern dance in Japan, defined his dance as "poetic butoh." After its creation, butoh has been evolving and transforming (two of its key features as an art form that actually doesn't have a "form") to not just rescue Japanese body/ identity, but also uncovering the beauty in the darkeness and poetic nature of the body of a vast group of individuals all over the world from Asia, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand to various parts of North and South America. In this way, it has become a powerful movement art form of self-exploration that investigates how you perceive your body-self in changing states of being as a way to establish a more true and direct communication with the audience. What is Diana Garcia-Snyder's approach to butoh and dance? My goal as a dancer and human being is to be present and conscious in order to integrate and evolve life experiences. Truth, grace, magic, and joy are powerful concepts that give meaning to my dancing. I dance and teach to share the power of moving. I dance to uncover what is hidden in me and to facilitate this process in others. I dance because this is my tool to understand the world. Movement is present in everything! Diana's classes and workshops often weave butoh imagery, improvisation, dance composition, meditation, authentic movement, psychodrama, core strenghteneing and video among other forms, although they may vary depending on the type of collaboration and focus of the research. Born in Mexico City and a resident of the US since 1999, Diana evolved from ballet to modern dance and later to various forms of improvisation, Japanese Butoh dance and somatic practices, yoga and Pilates. All these layers prepared her for developing teaching practices and choreographic works that engage the audience and her students not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. She is fascinated with the creative and collaboration processes and has collaborated with musicians, video artists, textile artists, and visual artists, discovering that joinning efforts often leads to a more powerful realm than the lonely journey of being a solo artist. For Diana, engaging in the creative and collaborative process has proven to be the most powerful and rewarding experience in her recent years as a performer and teacher. Diana first introduction to butoh was in 2003, after experiencing Maureen Flemming's exquisite body performance while studying dance at Columbia College in Chicago. Later captured by butoh's magic, Diana started researching until she found , Mexican butoh master Diego Piñon, who latter became her mentor for several years. Since then she has studied and/or performed with various butoh artists such as Yuko Kaseki, Barbara Bourget, Joan Laage, Sheri Brown, Alan Sutherland, Trey Donovan, and Maureen Freehill. Diana graduated in 2008 with an MFA in dance from the University of Washington, and also holds a Bachelor in Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in México City and received her ballet training with honors at the Royal Academy of Dancing in London and Mexico City. She co-founded DAIPAN Butoh Collective in Seattle along with butoh artists Sheri Brown, Joan Laage, Alan Sutherland, Vanessa Skantze, Helen Thorsen, Douglas Ridings and Alex Ruhe. What is DAIPAN Butoh Collective? DAIPAN is a collective dance company to formally meld the talents and energy of its seven Seattle-based butoh core members: Sheri Brown, Diana Garcia-Snyder, Joan Laage, Douglas Ridings, Alex Ruhe, Vanessa Skantze, Alan Sutherland and Helen Thorsen. Our purpose as butoh collective is to devote our energy to bringing butoh to Seattle audiences. A movement form that emerged from post war Japan in 1959, butoh is a dance that seeks nothing less than the transformation of the world, one performance at a time. We have organized international festivals, we have brought in master teachers from all over the world. As a result of our collective efforts, Seattle is a hub in the international butoh community. We have traveled the continents with our dances and the world has come here to study with us. We have added vitality to the larger arts community. We have all had the honor of leading classes and organizing international workshops with leading butoh artists. In the last 18 years anyone in Seattle looking to investigate the mystery of butoh practice and butoh performance could almost always find a class to attend; either a workshop, intensive, or an on going weekly session with us or with master teachers such as Diego Pinon or Katsura Kan among others.
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This workshop is an opportunity to hear the rhythm inside though improvisations triggered by the Thirteen Moon Mayan Calendar; suggesting the coming back to natural time, moving away from mechanical clocks and evolving the sphere of human thought. Classes integrate butoh, improvisation techniques and Mayan calendar symbology, as well as energy chakras, authentic movement and meditation. "Time isn't just money. Time can heal. What would happen if we could experience time differently? We cannot expect to have a new millennium without a new time, and we cannot have a new time unless we have a new calendar. Your body is a door for the understanding of new possibilities!" Diana Garcia-Snyder MFA, originally from Mexico, has been a professional dancer, solo artist and dance educator for over two decades, performing in Mexico, Latin America and the US. Diana continues to innovate through her butoh-inspired choreography and "Nourishing for Conscious Growth" dance workshops. Her recent works include two pieces dedicated to Latino artist Frida Kahlo and Hispanic surrealist painter Remedios Varo, as well as Shin'm, a multimedia interactive performance at the Wing Luke Asian Museum. She is co-founder of DAIPAN Butoh Collective and DGS Body Projects. She collaborates with artists and professionals in the field of personal development to create unique projects to support consciousness. She holds a MFA in dance from the University of Washington, a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City and is a certified Pilates instructor. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ DGS Performances & Events Calendar under construction! Please contact Diana for current list of events.
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