Kulturanova has during the weekend proudly enabled and realized a two-day workshop Dance with Natsuko Kono. The workshop is based on Butoh – a contemporary Japanese dance form that was developed during the sixties in a new artistic revival of post-war Japan.
The participants of the workshop had with great enthusiasm accepted this way of expression through dance, and not only that but the ideas and philosophies that follow it.
The workshop also explores how to develop the interpretation as an ‘instrument in the whole’ through a deep and subtle approach.
The physical body, mind, imagination and energy or life force are the aspects of the united performer that Natsuko introduced the artists with.
The workshop started unusually - by wiping the floor, but as the instructor said: ‘That is a way not just to wipe the floor, that is the room which we will utilize during the workshop, but also a means for the artists to feel the energy of the surface on which they work and perform. Only when we get in touch with the energy of the surface we are working on, we can be sure that the tool of our work will not hurt us’. Natsuko also added that this is a way to through something simple as wiping the floor with clear water, clean our spirit as well and a great warm-up exercise.
The program afterward continued first through simple, and then more and more complex moves. Interestingly enough that was felt through the music that enveloped the space of Kulturanova. From gentle native Japanese tones entwined with sounds of nature to strong rhythms of traditional percussions mixed with modern musical forms. All of this contributed to the four-hour-long workshop becoming a real challenge because all who attended drew the maximum from themselves in order to master the moves at hand.
After the second day of the workshop, the tired participants had with a certain degree of sadness greeting the end, though satisfied with the newly acquired knowledge and the new view not just on dance, but also the world around them. Natsuko was also satisfied with how the participants reacted and how the workshop went, so it was no wonder she showed her excitement and wish to come back as soon as possible and collaborate again with Kulturanova.
