Kyurious Kyoto

Apologies! This post has now been moved to ZENBU TOURS - you'll find it HERE.

BUTOH - Bridget Scott & Christopher Fryman Performance Alti Hall November 2011 ぶとう

I recall once boldly informing my friend, and Butoh performer, Bridget Scott that my impression of Butoh - for the most part  - was that it was a little self indulgent... That was based on a few performances by some less experienced types that perhaps went on for a tad too long... combined with my lack of any real understanding. 

Having now been fortunate enough to have witnessed Bridget performing on several occasions and also having attended one of her fabulous Butoh workshops to learn the basics and explore my own inner Butoh style - I can tell you that it is a mesmerising privilege to witness someone reach deep inside and reveal their soul in front of an audience. 

These images are from a recent event at Kyoto's Alti Hall as part of national Culture week - Bridget and her co-performer, renowned local musician Christopher Fryman, were hand-selected by a panel from the many who auditioned - quite a coup for a foreign duo - the only non Japanese to be included in the programme as far as I know. 

Bridget's next Butoh workshop is this Sunday 18th of December from 10am -1pm. It may already be booked out but if you are interested it is worth attempting to get a spot anyway - for reservations and directions contact Bridget directly on bridgetscottnow@me.com.  Do it now!!

I have only been to one workshop so far and it was one of the most grounding experiences I have had in some time. So not what I had expected to be honest. I really enjoyed it and it did push me out of my comfort zone in the most gentle way  - I highly recommend it. 

Bridget has been performing Butoh for over 20 years and is also a highly accomplished Nihon Buyoh dancer - that is the traditional Japanese dance that you might most likely have seen being performed by a Geiko (Geisha) or Maiko (trainee Geisha). A very talented lady indeed - and let's not forget what a fabulous Shiatsu therapist she is - more on that here. 

Anyway - here's a little taste of the Culture Week performance:

And below - some of the adoring fans including some of my favourite people in Kyoto...

Meet some of the gang - Kathy, Michiko, Christopher Fryman, Paul, Bridget, Mark,Tad, Elsbeth, Gary and Liz

oh and I snuck myself into a couple of pics too -didn't want to miss out on the group shot!

Congrats Burijitto san! xx

Urbanguild - a multidisciplinary art space

Looking for something a little different in Kyoto town?  Do yourself a favour and check out Urbanguild. Pretty much anything goes as far as performance is concerned.  "Improv" seems to be reasonably high on the agenda which can always be a bit hit and miss but I have been rewarded, during my visits here over the last few weeks,  with some rather unique and enriching experiences.  Spectacular dance - particularly Butoh, paper soundwaves and sensational music including New York based Karikatura who had everyone in the room on fire! The loyal crowd are relaxed and open-minded. Eats are surprisingly good - and very reasonably priced, as are the drinks - all of which make me very happy of course....  You can read more about it here on the wonderfully informative Deep Kyoto blog.

Recently, at the Velvet Moon New Year's special, the multi-talented Bridget Scott (aka world's best best shiatsu therapist) began her piece with traditional Nihon Buyoh in silence before morphing into a mesmerising Butoh - which she performed to the UK based musical recordings of (coincidentally named) "Rabbit"  featuring brother Tom Scott Kendrick on reeds, strings and electronics and David Aylward on drums and percussion.  Brilliant!