“Study by yourself. Then make your own revolution. This is butoh.” – Yoshito Ohno¹

Welcome, curious souls!

We have here the first of its kind virtual butoh manual and is perpetually updated. This manual is very heavy with hands-on exercise and simple explanations. Each section is as a chocolate sampler box, connecting to other chocolate sampler boxes.

Everything is a teacher. This manual is just one grain of sand in the immense hourglass of life that some might find useful. It is not the intention of this manual to speak for all butoh. This is the shadowbody slant / style / perspective / map of butoh. It is up to the individual to craft their own butoh. The manual is about creating creators and visionaries. The main source of inspiration is our own body and psyche.

“Art is deeply rebellious. Bad artists talk about the rebellion, but true artists do the rebellion.” – Jerzy Grotowski²

This manual is to be approached with play, curiosity, bravery, creativity, and rebellion. There is nothing immune to remixing or discarding. Discernment is part of creating your own artistic genius. The navigation is set up as cumulative, but it does not mean you cannot jump around to whatever grabs your interest. You get out what you put in.

Kindly consider donating to support my mission to make butoh more accessible. Butoh should not be only for a privileged few. There is space for all the marginalized in society, the differently abled (physically or mentally), ex-convicts, anti-globalists, any caste (India), and with discretion, all ages.

Also, there are always butoh intensives and workshops happening that I am a part of. For the recent calendar, check out the shadowbody homepage.

And check out my latest project, a new Christian-based butoh method — THEOKINESIS.

Any questions at all whether technical or not, don’t hesitate to reach me.

Adam Koan


¹ Calamoneri, Tanya. “Butoh Pedagogy in Historical and Contemporary Practice”. The Routledge Companion to Butoh Performance. London and New York: Routledge, 2018. Page 424.
² Wolford, Lisa, and Richard Schechner. The Grotowski Sourcebook. London: Routledge, 2001. Print. 235.
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