Butoh Dictionary
There are currently 6 terms in this directory beginning with the letter M.
Ma
The “in-between” of time, space, and being, often linked to liminality and paradox.
In butoh, ma resonates as the container or ground of the dancer's world. It implies creating space, emptiness, and quietness as the seedbed of creation.
In butoh, ma resonates as the container or ground of the dancer's world. It implies creating space, emptiness, and quietness as the seedbed of creation.
Maro Method
Akaji Maro’s creative approach to butoh, structured around three pillars: (1) miburi/teburi: collecting body language (mining everyday body and hand gestures); (2) igata: mold body (sustaining forms shaped by experience and tension); (3) chūtai: becoming an empty vessel moved by external forces.
Miburi
The first of the three-part process of Akaji Maro's Maro Method which is the process of gathering gestures, postures, and movements from everyday life and society, then distilling them into a performance vocabulary. Maro treats these collected fragments as a kind of living archive, forming the raw material for butoh expression.
Teburi is simply the focus on hand gestures.
Teburi is simply the focus on hand gestures.
Microtones
An advanced Shadowbody term referring to the dancer’s ability to improvise within a set structure, such as choreography, where subtle “microtones” emerge as spontaneous details—alive and responsive in the moment.
Multi-Qualia Forced Connection
A Shadowbody term for working with two or more qualias then forcing connections/associations between them, even if they are faint.
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the question was raised, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" A good butoh artist/poet may immediately make endless connections between these two qualias: (1) raven and (2) writing desk. These connections are how a semblance of story (albeit absurd) can spring about in performance. This is often a natural result of butoh play.
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the question was raised, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" A good butoh artist/poet may immediately make endless connections between these two qualias: (1) raven and (2) writing desk. These connections are how a semblance of story (albeit absurd) can spring about in performance. This is often a natural result of butoh play.
Mystery
In context of Subbody, it is the dancing of something that moves the dancer but that is not understood by the dancer.
Often expressed as "carrying the mystery."
The audience does not know what it is and neither does the dancer.
Often expressed as "carrying the mystery."
The audience does not know what it is and neither does the dancer.
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