yumiko yoshioka is a dancer,
a teacher and a choreographer
Yumiko Yoshioka is a Japanese Butoh dancer and choreographer from Tokyo. Since 1988 she has been based in Germany. Yumiko is a former member of Ariadone, the first female Butoh company, which was founded by Ko Murobushi and Carlotta Ikeda in 1974. In 1978, she performed with Ko and Carolotta in Paris, LE DERNIER EDEN – PORTE DE L’AU-DELA, the very first Butoh performance to be presented in a public theatre outside Japan. In 1988 she met Minako Seki and delta RA’i in Berlin, with whom she founded tatoeba THÉÂTRE DANCE GROTESQUE. This experience, along with work with the Butoh dancer Kim-Itoh, encouraged Yumiko to start to unfold her own personal style of dancing and choreography.
In 1989 she also started to develop and teach her own form of bodywork. The approach became a pillar of her career as a reflection of her profound understanding of the importance of deepening consciousness of the body, not only in order to dance and express, but also to illuminate our daily life, opening ourselves to the deeper layers of our inner world and rediscovering a subtle beauty in each moment. The strength of this perception led her to create her own method of bodywork, called “Body Resonance”
In 1994, she met JoaXhim Manger and Zam Jhonson. Together they founded TEN PEN CHii ART LABOR, an interdisciplinary and experimental art formation, in which Yumiko dances and emerges as choreographer. Since 1995 she has set up various collaborative projects across Europe. These include: “eX…it!, a Butoh-Related eXchange Festival”, held at Schloss Broellin; Gest-Azione, with Annalisa Maggiani from Italy; and indigo fera art productions with Rena Konstantaki from Greece. Yumiko continues to pioneer Butoh installations and teach her methods internationally.
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philosophy
There is a saying in China: “a hundred (different) flowers are in full bloom.” This understanding of every individual shining in their own unique beauty inspires my work. Butoh is an opportunity to cultivate the seed of care and consciousness that dwells within each of us.
As an artist, I explore the nature of the edges of the world around me. Viewing the present in terms of connection, evolution and coexistence, helps me imagine a bridge to travel between the visible and the invisible. This bridge creates a space for the body to unfold its secrets, to reveal itself through rediscovery of its potential as a receptacle of cosmic time, memory and perspective.
Butoh is the dance of transformation, which allows me to experience the world from a different point of view. Changing perspectives from human to animal to cosmic creates a constant feedback loop between my imagination and my body. As both artist and teacher, I use these perspectives and the layers of body memory to be channels, catalysts, and resonators. Through this dialogue, I learn to be moved by both the inner and outer forces that exist within and around us.
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TEN PEN CHii ART LABOR
In Japanese Ten Pen Chii means “natural catastrophe” ‒ literally, “the sky (ten) changes and the earth (chi) changes”, meaning everything is changing in resonance.
This art-formation was founded in 1995 by Yumiko, together with JoaXhim Manger, a visual artist from Germany, and Zam Johnson, an American composer and performer. The company has produced numerous performances with a unique style, featuring interdisciplinary collaborations using installation, music and body works to investigate the contemporary human being and explore the ways it deals with the consequences of its desires.
One of Yumiko’s most extensive, prolific and distinctive collaborations, TEN PEN CHii ART LABOR remains an on-going life project.
body resonance
I call my dance approach “Body Resonance”
based on Butoh and Organic Movement.
Belonging to a third generation of Butoh artists, Yumiko has developed a personal style of bodywork called Body Resonance, which integrates Butoh practice with features of Noguchi Taiso gymnastics and various other Asian training methods to help prepare the body to receive and transmit dance and inspirations. Body Resonance starts from the idea that the world, including our body and soul, consists of vibrational waves that create constant resonances like echoes. When we tune our body to that frequency, we receive images, feelings and sensations accordingly. For this to happen, we need first to shake off unnecessary tension. In effect, we make a white canvas of our body to paint new colour on it. I teach this as neutralization, encouraging a close-to-zero state, scouring off rust and polishing antenna to catch waves from profound layers of the body. The transformations and concentrations of dancing break up the eggshell of form. They melt down the armour of our ego, allowing resonant memories to emerge from our cells that are floating in the primal liquid of time.
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workshop description
The body as a receptacle of time.
A dance of metamorphosis inevitably appears.
The main focus of this workshop is a conscious research in the unification of our body/mind/soul, so that we can deeply enjoy the intrinsic process of metamorphosis through the spirit of dance. Through a continuous exploration of our past collective memories, we can strike a vein of abundant creative resources, enriching the essence of our life.
Body resonance is a key to opening up the doors of an ever-changing world inside and outside ourselves, which helps the body to unfold its secrets, holding them up until they shine and tremble. Everything is in resonance with each other. Through a dialogue with our body, we can learn to be moved by inner and outer forces, thus realizing we are a part of the Universe.
Workshop Content:
*Release exercises, inspired by Noguchi Taiso (Gymnastics), Taichi and Yoga
*breathing exercises
*dynamic training for the flow of energy
*Butoh-related work to activate our universal memories (sensitization, combination of image and movement with antenna exercises such as figure of 8, water ball, animal, insect, snake, witch and fairy, the creatures inside us, hanging body, walking, dialogue with a partner etc)
*structured improvisation, free association
workshop near Thessaloniki
June 13 – 16
in the countryside of Thessaloniki
Maria Lappa <anapnoes_maria@hotmail.com>
workshop in Brussels / Belgium
workshop in Florence /Italy
Body Liberation Retreat Vol.II
collaboration of Annalisa Maggiani ( Authentic Movement and Dance in the Nature)
and Yumiko Yoshioka (Body Resonance, based in Organic Movement and Butoh)
July 4 to July 9
at Casina Settarte in Puglia /Italy, near the Sea
conatct : Annalisa <annalisa@gest-azione.de>
Master Class in Tarifa (Spain)
July 27 from 10:00 to 17:00
contact : www.respirayogatarifa.com
+34 623 172 840
B.I.G.
Butoh International Gathering
(after ” eX…it! Butoh -Dance Festival”)
with 8 Butoh teachers :
Yumiko Yoshioka, Atsushi Takenouchi, Natsuko Kono, Taketeru Kudo, Uiko Watanabe, Eugenia Vargas, Jonathan Martineau, Slava Inozemcev
August 19 – Sep. 1, 2024
(arrival : August 18, departure: Sep 2)
at Schloss Bröllin in Germany
contact : info@bigbutoh.com
The final presentation !
in the evening of Aug. 31 and Sep 1 at Schloss Bröllin
Tour in Mexico and Cuba
workshops in Mexico City, Cuernavaca, Xalapa, Guadalajara, Campeche, Cancún and Cuba
workshop in Mexico City
Sep 23 – 26 , 16:00 to 19:40
contact : <cromosniebla@gmail.com>
workshop in Cuernavaca
Oct 2 – 5
contact : jasbutoh@gmail.com
Creation in Xalapa with Orteuv Company
Oct 8 – 27, (Oct 26 and 27 performance)
workshop at Teatro Liberdad en Xalapa
Nov 19 and 20
contact: Liliana Hernández <lilianahernandezperez@gmail.com>
Master class in Guadalajara
Nov 3
workshop in Guadalajara
Nov 5 – 7
Solo Performance : 100 Light Years of Solitude
Nov 10
contact : Sandra Soto <sadanse@hotmail.com>
workshop in Campeche
N0v 18 – 21,
solo performance in Campeche
Nov 23
contact : editorialgestadelasabana@gmail.com
workshop and Performance in Cancún
Nov 25-27
Improvisation : Nov 28
100 Años Luz en Soledad
Nov 29
contact : Carlos Ivan <cuerposocial22@gmail.com>
workshop in Cuba
Dec 3 – 5
contact: editorialgestadelasabana@gmail.com
Winter Workshop in Berlin
at Eden Studio in Pankow
December 19 – 22 (Thu – Sun, from 13:00 to 18:00)
contact : yumiko-mizelle@gmx.de
2025
Workshop in Ise (Japan)
March 13- 15 , 2025
contact : Wild Art YESE! <yese@live.jp>
Performance “Matsukaze” at Utopia in Munich
Yuko Kaseki is also dancing.
produced by Bayerische Staatsoper
May 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 (5 times)
contact: Bayerische Staatsoper
workshop in Verona (Italy)
May 23 – 25
contact : Spazio Cinquecento <spaziocinquecento@gmail.com>
workshop in Aegina Island (Greece)
May 30 – June 1 (pending)
contact : Marianna <marianna.tsagaraki@facebook.com>
Aliki Germanou <aliki.sea@gmail.com>
Body and Voice Resonance
June 24 – 28
at Dreamland, near Wroclaw in Poland
arrival on June 23, departure on June 29
June 29: an informal presentation
3 hours of Body Resonance by Yumiko Yoshioka
3 hours of Internal Sound Vibration by Jozef Markocki
contact : projects.pft@gmail.com
workshop in Firenze (Italy)
July 4 – 6
contact : Camilla <camillagiani79@gmail.com>
Butoh Body Liberation
July 9 – July 13
in Ligria (Italy)
arrival on July 8, departure on July 14
Body Resonance by Yumiko Yoshioka
Authentic Movement by Annalisa Maggiani
July 13, a presentation “Hikari – Luce” at the riverside
30th Anniversary of the collaboration!
since “Al Giorno del Ritorno al Mare” , the first presentation
at Castle Lerici in 1995
contact :Annalisa <annalisa@gest-azione.de>
Butoh Lab Camp
near Cluj in Romania
with workshops, dance jam, optional performance in the c0untry side residency
July 22 – 3o (9 days) ,2025
arrival July 21, departure July 31
teachers: Sachiko Ishikawa/ Thierry Castel, Yumi Umiumare, Marlene Joebstl,
Matilde Javier Ciria, Tebby W.T. Ramasike and Yumiko Yoshioka
contact : Agnes <butohlabcamp@gmail.com>
Workshop in India
Auroville near Chennai and other cities
August 11- 17 (the dates are pending)
August 19 Yumiko’s performance (pending)
contact : yumiko-mizelle@gmx.de
Tour in Brazil and Peru
from September to November
contact : yumiko-mizelle@gmx.de
Winter Workshop 2025 at Eden in Berlin
From Dec 18 to Dec 21, ( 13:00 to 18:00)
contact : yumiko-mizelle@gmx.de
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TEN PEN CHii ART LABOR
Photo Credits: Michael Peters, Maria Fernanda, Fer Zam, Ron Lau, TC Chan, Maximillian Cheng, Ergao Dance Production Group, Sean Teruo, Alain Dacheux , Amana Dultra, Michael Peters, Thilo Nass, Peter Piontek, Ji Yang, Piero Perrazo, Stefano Lanzardo, Chronis Giannopoulos, Giampaolo Becherini, Atocha Crespo,David Jennings, Raúl Bartolomé, Claude Hofer, HIROs Lied
“We have started to compilate an archive of my Body Resonance Method,
this work is supported by: “
Gefördert durch die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien im Programm NEUSTART KULTUR, Hilfsprogramm DIS-TANZEN des Dachverband Tanz Deutschland.