Butoh Dictionary
There are currently 15 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.
Mad-libbing
A Shadowbody term when select terms from an already existing butoh-fu are replaced with others.
Marble Body
A Shadowbody exercise where the body is composed of only marbles inside. What happens? How does this make you move?
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.
Meta-Failure For Itself
A Shadowbody practice where if we have a psychological reaction to a failure of any type, that psychological reaction is an inspiration for a new dance.
Example: In trying to resonate with something, one gets a reaction of aversion, then one dances the feeling of aversion.
Example: In trying to resonate with something, one gets a reaction of aversion, then one dances the feeling of aversion.
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.
Mickey Mousing
A known dance term where the dance is following exactly with the music. In butoh, this is generally to be avoided and to instead view the music as another variable in the environment or another dance partner.
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.
Mirror Shadows
In Shadowbody, this is an exercise to be done in front of a mirror in the dark with one candle. One is to focus on one’s face for a long while (30 minutes or more), and see the various personalities that come about. Many may be scary, absurd, or aged. They can potentially be useful for finding butoh characters.
Mirroring
Important dance concept of copying another dancer.
In Shadowbody, there can be endless types of mirroring if we can modify the mirror as warped or manipulated in some way.
In Shadowbody, there can be endless types of mirroring if we can modify the mirror as warped or manipulated in some way.
Momiyose
A Subbody concept which is a form of Jo-Ha-Kyu where the Kyu is a condensed culmination of the Jo and Ha. For instance, if it takes a minute or two to open and feel the Jo scenery/qualia, and another 8 to travel the journey of changes (Ha-Ha-Ha), then perhaps one chooses a 1 minute climax merging together (whether linearly or not), everything that occurred within the Jo and Ha.
Movement Pun
A Shadowbody form of body pun that is simply in motion. A movement pun is when one movement changes contexts, e.g. the moving arm gestures for what shifting into the moving arm gestures for prayer or orans.
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.
Multiplicity Body
A Shadowbody term inspired by the term multiplicity used in the work of Deleuze and Guattari.
Simply means viewing the body as a constantly shifting multiple. Whether the elements are pores, cells, or micro facial expressions, the idea is to see them all as distinct dancers. In other words, we are seeing all the intriguing trees in the forest instead of “just a forest.” We are seeing both the parts and the gestalt (whole).
In Tatsumi Hijikata’s butoh score Quiet House, he called this concept the nest(nest body, nest eyes, etc.).
Simply means viewing the body as a constantly shifting multiple. Whether the elements are pores, cells, or micro facial expressions, the idea is to see them all as distinct dancers. In other words, we are seeing all the intriguing trees in the forest instead of “just a forest.” We are seeing both the parts and the gestalt (whole).
In Tatsumi Hijikata’s butoh score Quiet House, he called this concept the nest(nest body, nest eyes, etc.).
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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