Performance Making Workshop through Butoh and Beyond

This workshop invites participants to explore a unique laboratory process of performance-making through constructive and deconstructive approaches to Butoh.

Drawing on over 30 years of performance experience, Yumi guides participants through interdisciplinary practices including Butoh, cabaret, abstract theatre, ritual, and spirituality. Through Butoh-based exercises and experimentation, participants are encouraged to explore their own idiosyncratic creative processes and to actualise original inspirations and ideas.

The workshop offers a journey of deep sensing and listening, opening access to unexpected creative sources where anything is possible.

It welcomes both experienced practitioners and those new to Butoh who are willing to dive into the creative process.

Yumi Umiumare  is a Japanese-born, award-winning performer and master of Butoh and Butoh Cabaret, integrating ritual practices including the Japanese tea ceremony. Over 30 years, she has developed a distinctive style blending narrative, abstraction, ritual, and humour, exploring cultural identity across traditional and contemporary life. She has received an Australia Council Fellowship, serves as Artistic Director of ButohOUT!, and her award-winning works have been presented internationally across Australia, Japan, Europe, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, South America, and the United States. Yumi’s socially engaged practice includes work with First Nations and refugee communities. She is a leading figure in global Butoh and a recipient of multiple Green Room Awards and the Melbourne Fringe Living Legend Award.