The Art of Receiving: Butoh Workshop with Vangeline

Butoh, The Art of Receiving workshop with Vangeline; from the New York Butoh Institute

Date: Saturday 7th June 2025

Time: 10:00 - 15:00 BST

Location: Northern Stage, Stage 2.

Vangeline’s Butoh workshops are highly regarded for their unique fusion of Butoh with scientific and somatic approaches, including Noguchi Taiso, receptivity, the nervous system, and the parasympathetic nervous system.

Vangeline’s workshops emphasize the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for rest, digestion, and relaxation. Through Butoh and Noguchi Taiso, participants cultivate a state of receptivity, allowing for greater physical and emotional release. Noguchi Taiso (Noguchi Gymnastics) teaches how to move with minimum muscular effort and maximum fluidity. It is based on the idea that the body is mostly fluid, fostering movements that are less forced and more naturally efficient. This can be transformative for dancers, actors, and performers seeking to move beyond rigid, habitual patterns. Vangeline's workshops help down-regulate stress responses, encouraging greater presence and relaxation. This can be especially beneficial for artists who experience performance anxiety or individuals looking to tap into deeper creative and meditative states. Butoh is also deeply introspective and taps into the unconscious. By incorporating nervous system awareness, the practice becomes not just an aesthetic or performative tool but also a method for emotional and psychological exploration and healing.

• For dancers/performers: It refines movement quality, unlocks deeper expression, and fosters a more instinctual approach to physicality.

• For non-performers: It offers a unique way to explore embodiment.

Vangeline’s workshops bridge Butoh with modern somatic science, making them a powerful tool for movement exploration, nervous system regulation, and creative expansion. If you're interested in Butoh not just as an art form but also as a deep somatic and expressive practice, her approach is invaluable.

No dance or Butoh experience is necessary; this is an all-level class, and beginners are welcome. Some experience with mindfulness or somatic practice can be helpful.

"WONDERFUL. So simple, deep, profound and healing." - workshop participant feedback

Reserve your spot now!

Email sara@surfacearea.org.uk to add access requirements or ask any questions.

Information on getting to Northern Stage via Bus, Train, Metro and Road.

Pricing: Full day workshop is priced at £40

Early bird: We offer our newsletter subscribers an early bird price of £30. Click to subscribe to our newsletter.

Concession: We aim to ensure that financial constraints do not hinder your participation in our workshop, which is why we offer a concession price of £25. If you require additional assistance or wish to discuss further reductions, please don't hesitate to email sara@surfacearea.org.uk

While there are no strict age requirements, adults are likely to benefit the most. Please contact us if you have any questions.

An Introduction to Vangeline and The New York Butoh Institute

Vangeline, Artists’ Statement

“We carry Butoh into the 21st century”.

Whether we explore the Self through words, images, music, or movement, we symbolically offer to others a vision and a statement about who we are. By undertaking this journey into ourselves, we help define and shape collective ideals. Butoh leads us back to our conflicts and wounded selves and, through the process, brings what is hidden into the light. The process is profoundly healing and transformative.

Shedding various masks and layers of conditioning leads to more honesty. When we are stripped of our defences, we can offer our best. We become more capable of intimacy. We can be fully creative. Butoh can take us on a path to embracing ourselves fully, transforming our Shadow, and finding beauty and strength from the depth of our fragility. It can be an instrument of personal and collective transformation in the 21st century. This transformation comes from holding a mirror to each other and integrating our many facets - the beautiful and the ugly; and from reintegrating the forgotten of our society into our midst.

For more info visit: www.vangeline.com/vangeline

For testimonials https://www.vangeline.com/testimonials

Alt text and photo credit:

Image 1: Photographed by Nic Wong

Vangeline lies on her back on a wooden floor, with her arms and legs suspended in the air. Participants surround her in the workshop.

Image 2: photographed by Brenda Molgado

A black and white photo of Vangeline with workshop participants standing and moving in an open-plan studio featuring large windows and plants.

Image 3: Paul Miller

A diverse group of people engaging in movement and workshop activities in a black box theatre.