ButohBAR 番狂わせ OUT of ORDER II

ButohBAR 番狂わせ OUT OF ORDER II
– By Yumi Umiumare and ButohOUT!

Presented by Abbotsford Convent and Asia TOPA, Arts Centre Melbourne.

Dive into a surreal nightclub experience where cabaret collides with chaos! Accelerate your experience at the pop-up Sake bar before the show. 

World Premiere.

ButohBAR 番狂わせ OUT of ORDER II features enthralling dance, cabaret, song and visual art. The evening is centred around the art form Butoh, a hypnotic style of Japanese dance theatre.

Following the sold-out success of ButohBAR 2023, this electrifying event returns with a new line-up of local and international talent, including Japanese Butoh master Atsushi Takenouchi.

Led by legendary Melbourne artist Yumi Umiumare, this new edition of ButohBAR mixes fresh performances and rituals with outdoor spectacles at the iconic Abbotsford Convent, celebrating our beautifully dysfunctional existence. Featuring guerrilla performers, roving installations, out-of-order karaoke and more, the evening includes exquisite sake and food by Tamura Sake Bar.

ButohBAR 番狂わせ OUT of ORDER II thrillingly throws back to a time when Butoh ruled Japan’s nightclubs and strip joints in the 1970s and 1980s.

Sake and spine-tingling ritualistic happenings from 7pm!

5 – 9 March 2025
7.30pm
Industrial School and Sacred Heart Courtyard

Book now

Please note there will be intermittent loud sounds, low lighting and varying intensity, a moment of flashing lights, potential nudity and adult themes.
Low level of audience involvement.

ButohOUT! 2025 Workshop Series
January – March

In the lead up to ButohBAR 番狂わせ OUT of ORDER II performance in March 2025, explore and embrace the tension between order and chaos for yourself.

Sign up for one or more workshop packages and be a part of the sublime world of Butoh under the guidance of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend  Yumi Umiumare and Internationally acclaimed Butoh artists. The series culminates in a March weekend workshop led by Butoh Master Atsushi Takenouchi, accompanied by Hiroko Komiya in the Industrial School at the Convent.

Workshop 1:
WEEKLY TRAINING: THROUGH BUTOH and BEYOND
21 Jan – 18 Feb 2025
St Mary Anglican Church

Workshop 2:
2-DAY WEEKEND: VISUAL, TEXT AND BODY THROUGH MAGIC OF BUTOH
8 and 9 Feb 2025
Wxyz Studios

Workshop 3:
2-DAY WEEKEND WORKSHOP BY BUTOH MASTER ATSUSHI accompany by HIROKO KOMIYA
1 and 2 March 2025
Abbotsford Convent Industrial School

This series of workshops is open to all experience levels and artistic disciplines. Limited spaces available.

Book now to avoid disappointment. 

Accessibility

Industrial School is wheelchair accessible.
Please note there will be intermittent loud sounds, low lighting and varying intensity, a moment of flashing lights, potential nudity and adult themes.
Low level of audience involvement.

Asia TOPA is a joint initiative of Arts Centre Melbourne and the Sidney Myer Fund, supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, Playking Foundation and the Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.