Performance Making Butoh Workshop Series Feb/Mar 2026

photo by Vikk Shayen (ButohOUT!2025)

★ Performance Making Workshop through Butoh and Beyond ★ 
27(Fri), 28(Sat) Feb, 1 (Sun) March 2026
@Dancehouse, North Carlton

This workshop invites participants to explore a unique laboratory process of performance-making through constructive and deconstructive approaches to Butoh.

Drawing on over 30 years of performance experience, Yumi guides participants through interdisciplinary practices including Butoh, cabaret, abstract theatre, ritual, and spirituality. Through Butoh-based exercises and experimentation, participants are encouraged to explore their own idiosyncratic creative processes and to actualise original inspirations and ideas.

The workshop offers a journey of deep sensing and listening, opening access to unexpected creative sources where anything is possible. It welcomes both experienced practitioners and those new to Butoh who are willing to dive into the creative process. Visualisations, conversations, and adaptable instruction ensure accessibility for all bodies.

The workshop includes:

• Guided warm-up

• Sensory-based Butoh exercises

• Individual, paired, and group creation

• Feedback and creative support

If you would like to join our mailing list to be notified of up coming workshops please sign up here or contact Yumi.

Photo: Takahiro Kitagawa (as a part of Tenri University annual dance 2024)

Photo from ButohOUT!

---

The planned activities are outlined below.

 > Day 1 - Friday 27 Feb
 6:00 - 6:15 am - Registration, sign up, introduction
6:15 - 7:30 pm -  Mini lecture about what is Butoh (slides and short video presentation) 
7:30-7:35 - Short break
7:35 - 9pm - Exercise #1: Warm-up, Activating different parts of body through various images

> Day 2 - Saturday 28 Feb
10:00am - 12:00pm -  Exercise #2: Warm-up, conceiving, visualising and exploring your/others ideas 
12:00 - 12:45pm - Lunch break
12:45 - 1:00pm - Questions and Conversation
1:00 - 3:45pm - Exercise #3 : Exploring various styles : what is your favourite/challenging styles and forms?
3: 45 - 4:00pm - Discussion Q and A

> Day 3 - Sunday 1 March
10am - 12pm -  Exercise #4 : Transformation through narrative/abstraction : what is your trans-formation?
12:00 - 12:45pm - Lunch break
12:45 -  1:00pm -Questions and Conversation
1:00 - 3:00pm - Exercise #5 : Make it up!! : Making some shape through visible and invisible aspect. How?
3:00 - 4:00pm - Creation of a short work, discussion, Q and A, feedback &  debrief 

Other workshop in 2026

★ Weekly Workshop - Butoh Training ★ 

10(Tue) Feb - 17 (Tue) March 2026
Every Tuesday 6pm-9pm 
@ St Marys Anglican Church Hall, North Melbourne

---

If you would like to join our mailing list to be notified of up coming workshops,

please sign up here or contact Yumi.

Weekly Workshops - Feb/Mar 2026

WORKSHOPS IN 2026

★ Weekly Workshop - Butoh Training ★ 
(Tue)10 Feb 2026 to (Tue) 17 March 2026
Every Tuesday 6pm-9pm 
@ St Marys Anglican Church Hall, North Melbourne

This weekly workshop (6 sessions in total) trains the body through the transformative philosophy of classic and contemporary Butoh. Melbourne-based Butoh punkess Yumi Umiumare leads physical and imaginal practices that shake the body awake, activate space, disrupt habitual thinking, and push imagery across physical and metaphysical territories.

Originally known as the “Dance of Darkness,” Butoh is layered, contradictory, and unruly. The body becomes a site of transformation, between the known and the unknown, the real and the unreal, the visible and the invisible. We are playfully venturing into realms of disturbance, the grotesque, beauty, and darkness.

Enter the mysterious, unsettling, and strangely liberating world of Butoh!
No experience needed. Beginners welcome.

$35/ per class for drop in
$180 for 6 sessions 

---

If you would like to join our mailing list to be notified of up coming workshops
please sign up here or contact Yumi.

Photo: Takahiro Kitagawa (as a part of Tenri University annual dance 2024)

Photo: Vikk Shayen (as a part of ButohOUT! 2025)

---

Up Coming Workshop

★ Performance Making Workshop ★
(Fri) 27, (Sat) 28 Feb, (Sun) 1 March 2026
@ Dancehouse, North Carlton 

If you would like to join our mailing list to be notified of up coming workshops please sign up here or contact Yumi.

Butoh Summer Residential Workshop - 4-7 Dec 2025

Photo by Namchops/ Design by Alex White

Excerpt from Butoh Residential WS 2019 @ Arisaig Wellness Restreat

Butoh- Through magic & Mystery
舞踏 -その神秘と不可思議さ

Step into the mystery of Butoh, Japan’s subversive dance form, through 4days of movement, ritual, and transformation!

This popular annual residential workshop returns, inviting participants to discover their own creative expression and mystery through the physical and philosophical approach of Butoh—a Japanese contemporary and subversive dance form.

Over four days, Yumi will introduce both practical and ‘mysterious’ methods of Butoh, channeling our internal and external creative expression. The stillness and wildness of the landscape will enable us to explore our deeper, authentic "being," and to cleanse our busy thoughts.

Just over 1.5 hours from Melbourne, Arisaig Wellness Retreat is nestled in Yandoit, near Castlemaine. Set on 100 acres of serene bushland, surrounded by stunning Australian native flora, it offers hidden corners and quiet spaces that create the perfect refuge. The beautiful studio, designed to capture an abundance of natural light, provides uninterrupted views of the surrounding wilderness.

Through sharing food and gentle conversation, participants can explore a consciousness of well-being, as well as the essence of ‘personal ritual’—through breathing, walking, moving, and even occasional screaming and laughter. The workshop allows you to explore the intersection of movement, ritual, and spirituality—fostering a deeper connection to yourself, to others, and to the world around you.

Originally called the “Dance of Darkness,” 舞踏 Butoh contains many layers of practice and philosophy. Yumi believes it exists beyond duality—where darkness and light are not fixed states, and one always contains the seeds of the other. Through the magic and mystery of Butoh, ‘beauty’ can be ugly, and ‘ugly’ can be beautiful. Broken things can become catalysts for transformation.

Yumi is renowned for combining Butoh (the darkness) with lightness and humour, embracing a holistic humanity.

THE WORKSHOP IS OPEN TO ALL LEVEL OF EXPERIENCES AND ARTISTIC DISCIPLINES!

PLACES ARE LIMITED!

PLANNED SCHEDULE
(subject to be changed)

THURSDAY 4 DEC
 By 5pm Arriving, setting up tent, and settle in
 6:30pm Dinner 
 8pm Session 1 (Gathering and Greeting) 

FRIDAY 5 DEC
 6:30 am Silent Walk and Exercise
 Breakfast
 10-1pm Session 2
 Lunch 
 3-6pm Session 3
 Dinner
 8pm Session 4 (Gathering) 

SATURDAY 6 DEC
 6:30 am Silent Walk and Exercise
 Breakfast
 10-1pm Session 5
 Lunch 
 3-6pm Session 6
 Dinner
 8pm ~  Performance preparation and Performance

SUNDAY 7 DEC
 Breakfast
 Gathering, debrief and packing
11 am Departure

---

WORKSHOP DETAILS

FACILITATORS
Yumi Umiumare

WHEN
Thur 4- Sun 7 Dec 2025
(arrive by 5pm on Thursday 4th, finishing late morning on Sunday 7th)

WHERE
Arisaig Wellness Retreat
Yandoit, Victoria


COST
Early Bird - by 22 Oct 2025
$680 Full / $590 Concession
Standard
$720 Full / $630 Concession

(Including All Training/Workshops, Camping Space, Vegetarian Meals and access to Toilet and Shower)

ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation: Participants will be camping amongst the beauty of the bush to allow for a deeper connection to Mother Earth.

Additional options for beds available on request, during the booking process.

Terms & Conditions