WHAT IS BIG

Butoh International Gathering

The evolution of the Butoh language is inevitable, and it needs a place of exchange to meet its new forms and textures coming from all over the world.
Therefore, we like to create a place to help this evolution.

BIG is an event of 14 full days. It will take place in Schloss Brollin in 2024, from august 18th to september 1st. During this period between 70 and 120 people will gather together with a common interest, butoh dance.
We will dance dream and talk about butoh.
Living together as an small and ephemeral community.

There will be a lot of organised activities and some spontaneus one.
There will be workshops, research and creation process guided by 8 international choreographers. ( that will lead to a final 2 days event when we will share our creative experience with the public)
There will be other activities as performances, talks and jams and a fancy dinner party.

We live together and share together. We dance.

Our main foundation to achieve this is wild respect and deep care.

Wild respect means that, in BIG, everybody does what has to be done, the needings are before the desires. The body knows what is needed, the instinct knows what is needed, the brain also knows what is needed. And everyone do what is needed.
Deep care means that we all take care of each other, we take care of ourselves, we take care of the little details, we take care of the ordinary and the special equally.

If everybody follows this path you will have dozens of people taking care of you!! you will have the opportunity of taking care and loving, and every aspect of our short-time community will work flawlessly.

To achieve this you will have to be aware and attentive and you´ll have a strong will.

Always remember to take deep care of yourself with wild respect. This event can be overwhelming in some moments, don’t hesitate in taking your time when you need it. If you don’t know if you need it, stop what you are doing and take your time to breath, listen and realize if you need it, there is no hurry, life will be there waiting for you afterwards.

Be happy when you are, be sad when you are, get a rest when you need it, a hug when you need it. Stop and restart as many times as you need.

And dance it; dance in bed, in breakfast and in the bar. Re-dance it. Dance it in the line for food or in the shower, in the field or in the studio. Just dance it.

We want to share and dance and to share our dances. 
We want to collaborate, to create something together, not just art, not just dances. For two weeks we create our home together.

To help this we will group in happy teams, to share the joy of caring.
The teams will be taking care of the basics for our home to run.
It is not a great effort, as you share it with others and you do it only once in a while. Probably once per week. 

During your caring service on the team you can dance and sing, or be silent and quiet. You can develop your own way to enjoy it.

The happy teams make a BIG difference. Caring and taking care is a great base for dancing and living.

There will also be other special teams organized during the festival to make the event even more special, there could be an “invisible performance team” or a “chain reaction performance team”, what about a “giggling team”? 

is our way of coming together. Our aim is to bring together people from all over the world. From different backgrounds and interest and passion for dance and bodywork. We share and learn from each other. 

is the main way to evolve. To achieve this, we intend to create a festival programme that enhances this idea. As was done during Ex…it!, we would like to continue to propose different mixes of guest teacheres, in duos or even trios. When two lines of work mix, a new form emerges that neither of the two originals can control.

is the reality we face. We are “same same, but different”, and we would like to give prominence to this fact. In my experience in practicing Butoh, the more diverse the working groups are, the richer the result.

is how we manifest our WILL and create the future. Avoiding the modern form of consumerism, where you have everything you want, when you want it. Participants will have to choose who to spend their time with and they won’t be able to work deeply with all teachers. But they will be able to get to know them; meet them, observe them, live with them and create the link for further encounters.

is the origin of dance, the origin of art. In art there are two opposing currents. Art for arts sake, were we practice and study the art in order to master it. And root art, which comes from the community, even from people with no artistic training. We want to create links between these two directions.
Butoh connects the root with the sky. 

is our way of life. The whole event becomes a celebration of dance and therefore of life itself. We strive to make every moment of the day, orderly or chaotic, a celebration. For this we will create different structures and teams: special events (special evenings, conferences, screenings, etc.); and also smaller or invisible events (one-on-one performances, personal missions, etc.). Together with the happy cleaning and happy cooking teams, you can achieve your goals in a joyful atmosphere.

For decades, eX…it! has been the beating heart of the international Butoh community. Artists, organisers, dancers and Butoh enthusiasts from four different continents gathered at Schloss Bröllin every four years.

eX…it! has been a space for exchange, creation and inspiration.

The cradle of a network of connections that spans the globe and has generated a multitude of projects thanks to the links born at the festival.

Directed by Yumiko Yoshioka and Delta Rai eX…it! has nurtured the international butoh scene, it has generated a great interconnection in the international butoh community.

When, in 2019, Delta Rai and Yumiko Yoshioka announced that it would be the last edition of eX…it!, many of us were horrified at the very idea of such an endless void. A void that would block the growth of this artistic language. Although Butoh is a minority artistic expression, it exerts a strong influence on the international artistic community.

Spontaneously and instinctively we went to talk to Delta and Yumiko, to let them know the impact of their decision. We tried to persuade them to continue with eX…it! because of its invaluable value for the dissemination, growth and evolution of Butoh worldwide. Both organizers were adamant in their decision not to continue with the festival, but offered us their support if we decided to continue eX…it! And so we started to carve our own path, right where they left off.

Our aim is to maintain the tradition of the eX…it! festival based on the structure devised by Yumiko and Delta. However, adjustments will be made to adapt it to the actual needs of the Butoh community.

eX…it! web page.