music on the edge of silence, movement on the edge of stillness
A Cafe reason workshop with Adrian Freedman and Jeannie Donald McKim at The Straw Bale studio, Hertfordshire. The workshop was a welcome reminder to me of some key Butoh concepts through the medium of sound and silence and also introduced me to some new ideas and techniques which I look forward to applying and developing. All dancers present found confidence in creating sound and music even with instruments they’d never encountered before. The emphasis however was not so much on creation of sound as creation of opportunities for silence/stillness through listening, awareness and attention to the present moment. These are of course transferable approaches/skills and reinforced to me the value of cross art collaboration. There was opportunity throughout the day to experience sound as a maker, a silent audience and as a mover/dancer.