New York Butoh Institute Festival 2019 Comes to Theater for the New City

New York Butoh Institute presents the New York Butoh Institute Festival 19 from Thursday, October 17 through Sunday, October 27, 2019 at Theater for the New City. This year will mark the 60th anniversary of the Japanese performance art form butoh.

Curated by New York Butoh Institute's founder Vangeline, the Festival will consist of an exciting program of Butoh workshops and masterclasses, as well as seven nights of groundbreaking performances presented at Theater for the New City. The festival will conclude on Sunday, October 27 with a lecture and short film celebrating the founder of butoh, Tatsumi Hijikata, and the 60 years of this historical and revolutionary art form as it continues to evolve into the 21st century.

The bold butoh performances being presented during the festival will feature 14 female dancers from Japan, Colombia, Norway, Italy, Germany, France, and the U.S. One of the pieces, Hijikata, Mon Amour, will be performed by Vangeline as an homage to butoh founder Tatsumi Hijikata. A highlight of the piece will be the costume Vangeline will wear: an exact replica of the bold red costume Tatsumi Hijikata wore in his legendary butoh performance of Tatsumi Hijikata and The Japanese-Revolt of the Flesh in 1968.

Thanks to a loan from the Tatsumi Hijikata Archives and a Janet Arnold Award from the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Festival is able to showcase the replica of this iconic costume worn by Tatsumi Hijikata in Revolt of the Flesh. Hijikata's costume remains a totem for butoh-it holds secrets of the avant-garde art form.

Much like butoh itself, it was born at the confluence of East and West. This costume chronicles the evolution of postmodern art in Japan. The Festival will close with a short film of Tatsumi Hijikata in his 1968 solo, and a lecture with costume expert Todd Thomas who recreated the costume, and who will discuss his process, shedding light on how the original costume was designed and constructed. Prior to and during the presentation, the replica will be on display for audience members to see.

The New York Butoh Festival 19 will take place at Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, NYC. Thursday through Saturday October 17-19 and October 24-26 at 8pm, Sunday October 20 at 3pm, Sunday October 27 special event lecture at 3pm. Tickets are $18-$20, and can be purchased by phone at (212) 254-1109 or online at https://butohfest-19.eventbrite.com/. The lecture on Sunday, October 27 is free and open to the public.

Artists Featured: Eri Chian (Osaka, Japan); Mari Osanai, (Aomori, Japan), Tove-Elena Nicolaysen (Chile/Norway), Salome Kokoladze (Georgia), Sindy Butz (Germany), Katherine Adamenko (USA), Madelyn Sher (USA), Angela Newsham (Hawai-USA), Melissa Lohman (Italy), Margherita Tisato (Italy), Yazmin Gonzalez (USA), Vangeline, (France), Lauren Farber (USA) and Brenda Polo (Colombia).