Butoh Dictionary

This walk has a subtle floating quality to it. You may even smoothly lift up from the balls of the feet to give a floating illusion. Entire body is relaxed or lifeless, but flowing. Hijikata said of the ghost walk:

Why do ghosts have no legs? Nevertheless they are standing upright. What is it that holds them upright like that?[…] It is air that supports ghosts. Dandelions are not supported by legs. They are supported by countless number of death. […] There’s neither directions, nor top or bottom, nor right or left. The human body will float up and start drifting. (Hijikata, Tatsumi, W-Notation, no.2, .)

In Shadowbody, this is a portmanteau play on words "guest" and "host" that looks like "ghost" (carrying a butoh association) where deterritorialized audience/guests breaks the bounds of what typically would be known as audience. In performance art, for instance, when there is audience interaction, the audience has stepped outside of the bounds of mere observer and mixed with performer.

Like a doll’s eye, these eyes are immobile. The gaze is placed. near the horizon. Or one can form a parallel line from eye level to ground without placing attention to any particular area, but all the area in the field. One can even look at any particular point then spread the gaze to the whole scenery which is vague. The eyelids are relaxed. Pupils do not move. One tries not to blink, and if one does, let it be a subtle flash.

A Shadowbody exercise, also called suction, the participant moves with as much surface of the body suctioned to the ground or wall as possible. One can also imagine a high gravity or centrifugal force situation.

Example qualia-world: One enters the carnival ride known as Gravitron, which is a spinning space ship causing those inside to stick to the walls. Try to un-stick yourself in various ways, though it proves almost impossible.

A walk used in Shadowbody.

Begin by standing very, very still. Notice that with even the best efforts, the body still moves in order to accommodate for balance. Balance exists because of gravity. Imagine there is a pen at the top of the head. What is the pen drawing? The pen is drawing scribbles. These are not only seemingly random scribbles, but scribbles that utilize butoh time like that of a butterfly. Resonate with these scribbles.

Then after a time, make the scribbles bigger and gradually bigger. In turn, you feel more of an effortless sway. With all this now in your body, begin your walk. During your walk, via your body, have a conversation with Gravity himself. It may also help to think of muscles in the following way proposed by Naguchi Taiso: “Muscles do not exist for resisting and governing the gravity. Muscles are the ears for listening to the words of the god of gravity.