Secrets of the flesh is a spaceship created for us to dive deep into our body and discover new secrets; new information hidden in the darkness of ourselves. When in butoh we speak about the darkness of the body, we mean all that we don’t know we have. Through movement we experience it consciously for transformation and integration to take place.

In this workshop we’d like to share some practices that stir the unconscious, revealing some gifts that we can use for our dance and we’ll propose a specific exploration for self-research of the body movement-life fractal where we can find ourselves through the reflection of what we perceive in the space.

The structure of the day will have two parts:
Morning session: 10h-13:00h
Afternoon session: 15:00-18:30 h

The material of the workshop will be directed to empty ourselves to be able to “become” something else beyond our identities. We’ll go into butoh practices to train the deep focused attention within the body and with the space. The connection with gravity, breath, body sensations, and images as a door for the unconscious to be revealed.

As a theme for the explorations we’d like to bring “The temptation”. The lost paradise, Eva, the snake, and the fall of Mankind. Symbolism is a way to communicate with the unknown. The body is our vehicle to free ourselves and to get out of the wheel. From our body we can explore how to notice impulses and open up to different possibilities instead of being carried out by the first impulse.

We’ll have the space for explorations of how it feels to be in one’s axis and out of there, from a physical perspective and using the symbology associated with the reflection of our minds (by given forms and self-research improvisations).

Butoh is a performative act, so “on the stage” is where we can be seen and where we can share the gifts we find in the journey towards “what we are”. It’s not so important how we move but what we move. As Kazuo Onho (one of the creators of butoh) said: “Butoh comes from within and can be transferred from one person to another in the universal language of the heart. We feel pain, we can love, these are fundamental and universal. Butoh is just a word for dancing from the heart.”

For this reason we will have spaces to share our dance with the group, to be witnessed and to train the connection from within to the open space.

We are walking towards compassion in embracing everything we see, everything we experience on the stage, dropping judgment and playing the game, together.

BIO

Vir Torres has been dancing for as long as they can remember. For Vir, movement became a need more than a wish. Butoh is Vir’s philosophy for life and a path of allowing energies to go through their body in the form of dance.

Vir studied flamenco and Spanish dance at a professional academy in Spain. Then, around six years ago, Vir discovered butoh, which created a significant shift in their life and art toward the deconstruction of their own movement and the movement imposed on their body. One of the projects Vir has been working on during this time is the deconstruction of the forms and lines learned in dance school, titled “Deconstructing my flamenco.”

Vir’s work is oriented to the scene, touching all the different colors of the wheel of Samsara. Their approach to the stage is by touching in the other what touches them. During this time, Vir has created different solo pieces such as “Amatista,” “Buenos Aires,” “Chinamasta,” “Hell in paradise,” and “Autumn roses.” They were also part of “Sasayaki,” from a whisper to cry (a production from Tadashi Endo). Established in Quinta Ten Chi, Vir is a resident and co-organizer of events, retreats, and residencies such as “Renascimento em dança,” “Sprouting Dragons” creativity festival, and is a half-time traveler expanding their work to other countries. This includes collaborations with Towards Centre for Research of CI, interested in the combination of these two worlds.

Some of Vir’s masters in butoh include Jonathan Martineau, Matilde Ciria, Atsusi Takenouchi, Tadashi Endo, and Imre Thorman.