ButohOUT! 2021
New Ab/Normal
新しい異常

This February – May, the Convent presents New Ab/Normal (新しい異常), the fifth iteration of ButohOUT!—the annual festival celebrating the profound Japanese performance art of Butoh.

Originally called the ‘Dance of Darkness’, Butoh has always been associated with the marginalised—embracing the abnormal, the quirky and the deviant. The very first Butoh performances shocked audiences so much the art form was forced underground. Today however, Butoh is celebrated as an innovative and transformative practice.

In this post-pandemic era, the term ‘new normal’ is prolific—what was normal is no longer so, and vice versa. Yet we cling onto some semblance of normalcy like a security blanket. Why? 

New Ab/Normal will explore the paradoxical nature of normality through the lens of Butoh, questioning our need to maintain the status quo and celebrating the subversive. Featuring five public workshops, a performance-making laboratory and two performance works, New Ab/Normal will create platforms for participants—from experienced creatives to newcomers, children and families—to explore authentic expression in an ever changing world.

“ButohOUT! feels like Samuel Beckett meets Beyoncé via Eraserhead”
– Daily Review

Dates

2 February – 23 May

Creative team

Artistic Director Yumi Umiumare
Producer Takashi Takiguchi
Voice Emma Bathgate
Visual arts Jacqui Stockdale
Sound Dan West
Forum Facilitation Helen Smith

Program overview

Weekly workshop series: Is Butoh Abnormal?
Facilitated by Yumi Umiumare
5 sessions: Tuesday 2, 9, 16, 23 February, 6pm – 9pm & Sunday 14 February, 10am – 4pm
Location: Abbotsford Convent, Oratory
Cost: $270 Full / $250 Concession for all 5 sessions
Book now

Weekend workshop: What is Normal in Butoh?
Facilitated by  Yumi Umiumare
Friday 19 March, 6pm – 9pm, Saturday 20 & Sunday 21 March, 10am – 4pm
Location: Abbotsford Convent, Rosina Auditorium
Cost: $270 Full / $250 Concession for the weekend
Book now

Weekend workshop: What is our New Ab/Normal?
Facilitated by Yumi Umiumare, Emma Bathgate, Jacqui Stockdale
Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 April, 9am – 6pm
Location: Abbotsford Convent, Oratory
Cost: $300 Full / $280 Concession for the weekend, plus $10 for materials
Book now

Convent Kids workshop: Peek-a-Butoh
Facilitated by Yumi Umiumare
Saturday 27 March, 10am
Saturday 27 March, 11am
Location: Abbotsford Convent, c3 Forecourt
Cost: free!
Book now

Seniors workshop: You Don’t Think You Can Dance?
Facilitated by Yumi Umiumare
Saturday 27 March, 1pm – 2pm
Location: Abbotsford Convent, c3 Forecourt
Cost: free!
Book now

Performance: Colour-Fool (壱)
An experimental performance installation work which embraces our colourful acts of ‘foolishness’ to provoke and challenge our perception of ‘what is normal?’
Thursday 25 – Saturday 27 March, 8.15pm
Sunday 28 March, 3.30pm
Location: Dancehouse
Book now

Performance: Odd Hours
Through the powerful performance art of Butoh, Yumi Umiumare and collaborators Emma Bathgate (vocal artist), Jacqui Stockdale (visual artist) and Dan West (sound artist) will work with masks, collage, sound and movement to create a site-specific, illusionary work investigating subjectivity and individual notions of abnormality.
Thursday 20 – Sunday 23 May, 7.30pm
Location: Abbotsford Convent, Industrial School
Book now

Your safety is our priority

We take your safety seriously and have put in place the following COVID safety measures to ensure you are able to feel free and have fun whilst moving:

• The capacity of each session is 30 participants to ensure physical distancing and to comply with government directions (please note: we will continue to adhere to government restrictions, and will notify you directly if this affects this program); 
• Each participant will be provided with their own floor markers to mark out their dance space to ensure safe distancing; 
• The workshop area whilst outside will be demarcated for the duration of the event to ensure members of the public are aware and ensure physical distancing; 
• You are encouraged to bring your own water bottle and water; 
• Markers and any other equipment will be thoroughly cleaned with disinfectant between each session; and
• Wearing a mask is mandatory inside and when you cannot maintain physical distancing, unless you have a lawful exemption for not wearing one.

View the Convent’s COVID Safe plans here.

Cancellation policy

Please refer to the booking terms and conditions.

Access

Workshops in the Oratory and Rosina Auditorium can be accessed via wheelchair or mobility device.

If you have access requirements please contact organisers on butohout@gmail.com

Thank you!

Abbotsford Convent Foundation
ImPermanence Productions
Dancehouse
Australia Council for the Arts
Australian Cultural Fund
Auspicious Arts Projects
City of Yarra