What I learned:

Today I was able to do another workshop with Alys from Zen Zen Zo where we focused on Butoh and mask work which helped me a lot for my EE. I learned so much from the last few sessions that I couldn’t possibly talk about everything in one post so I’ll just discuss what I think will be most helpful for my EE. From our practical exploration today, I was able to better understand the notion that in Butoh, emotion is evoked through the physicality of oneself which then allows for the story of a character and their emotion to show through. This often grotesque imagery is somewhat confrontational to the audience which I think is what then shocks them and is one of the main intentions of Butoh. After discussing with Aarushi, Ali, Natasha and Fayyaz after our session we were able to develop our ideas further and I think it gave me some clarity on what we just experienced. I also learned that Butoh is almost a retaliation of modern societal norms as it contradicts the civil behaviour that is expected and rather reverts back to more childlike attitudes.

What I’m proud of:

I’m proud of the willingness I was able to stir in myself to commit fully and participate in the workshops today despite the uncomfort that I may have normally felt. I also think that the understanding I have gotten and the learning I’ve done today is something to be proud of because I actually know now what I could potentially will talk about in my EE which is especially important. I know now that because of my practical engagement, I have a better understanding of my topic (or half of it at least) rather than just researching and somewhat comprehending.

What Next?

I now have a lot of knowledge and experience which I can use for the Butoh aspect of my EE which I now need to start writing about before the 22nd of May (when the 1000 words are due) I want to, for the most part, finish writing about all of this and then also make sure to do some more research on the Theatre of Cruelty aspect of my EE.