Workshop with Tadashi Endo
Tadashi Endo, élève of the great Butoh-dancer Kazuo Ohno, found his own way of dance, which he calls Butoh-MA. MA is a very important word out of the Zen-Buddhism which has two meanings: the "emptyness" and "the space between the things".
Tadashi Endo is not only teaching how to move but also tries to give a deep view in the way of Butoh and its philosophy. First he tries to let the participants feel the slowlyness. Concentrating on the feet as the only organ of sight and perception, they learn to move slowly. The feet are the only connection to the earth. After the participants got the real sensitivity in this kind of movement and feeling, Tadashi Endo gives some associated pictures (like a growing flower or the wind playing with falling leaves etc.) which should be interpretated in movements.
Tadashi Endo tries to let the participants reach their inner emptyness, they have to be like in trance. Out of this calmness it is possible to gain the intensive and clear expression that is wellknown at the Butoh, the No and the Kabuki.
Butoh-MA is the way to make the unvisible visible. The minimum of movements lets the expression of feelings and situations grow to highest intensity. It is more important to keep the balance between energy, tension and control than to care for the esthetics of the movements.
The dancer shall not dance - but should be danced