Triskelion Arts & Vangeline Theater/New York Butoh Institute present…

JOAN LAAGE/KOGUT BUTOH

APRIL 6-8, 2023
8PM

Rivers Running Red is a homage to the female body and menstruation. The piece is inspired by an article exposing the practice in certain traditional societies of sending women off to the mountains to remain in huts and, all too often not surviving the harsh conditions. This practice is fueled by the belief that women are unclean while menstruating. It is also a reflection on this monthly cycle being celebrated as a sacred passage in other cultures. With a commissioned score by Joan’s frequent Seattle collaborators Michael Shannon and Joey Largent and costume by Seattle artist Shoko Zama, it was first performed as a duet with Italian butoh artist Kea Tonetti in Milan, then as a solo in Pontedera, Italy at Spazio NU during Atsushi Takenouchi’s intensive workshop event and in Antagon theaterAKTion’s Winterwerft Festival in Frankfurt, Germany in 2020, and more recently, in DAIPANbutoh Collective’s Seattle Butoh Festival 2021.

Vangeline Theater will open the show with an excerpt of The Slowest Wave. The Slowest Wave investigates through the use of scalp EEG how brain waves during Butoh dancing compare to those emitted during other conscious or unconscious motor behaviors, such as speaking or meditating. Moreover, the study will elucidate the functional neural networks of the dancers and the neural synchrony within and between them. This project is meant to foster connections and understanding between dancers, artists, scientists, engineers, and audiences from around the world.