ButohOUT! is a creative platform that breaks expectations and boundaries. It invites diverse arts and non-arts communities to engage with the profound internationally acclaimed art form of Butoh.

ButohOUT! engages with international Butoh dancers to interact with local Australian practitioners to form new initiatives in an open exchange of expertise and performance.

ButohOUT! is the only festival of its kind in Australia focusing on this distinctive art form and it is important to continue to build on its growing reputation.

ButohOUT! aims to embrace

Activation: To create a radically-inclusive platform, open to all ages, ability, gender, nationality, sexual orientation and level of practice

Innovation: To break through our ‘conventional’ boundaries and ‘habitual’ approaches to open up new territories for creating new works

Transformation: To encourage and foster personal, social and communal transformation through the practice of Butoh

Celebration: To bring people together by creating a space of joy, awe and spiritual well-being within and between communities

Combining the virtuosity of Yumi Umiumare’s (Artistic Director) 30-year Butoh practice, alongside Taka Takiguchi’s (Creative Producer) 15 years of experience in socially-engaged projects, ButohOUT! is able to offer a diverse range of participation through workshops and performance in partnership with two of Melbourne’s highly-valued and recognised venues such as Abbotsford Convent and Dancehouse.

The unique nature and freedom that is inherent within the practice of Butoh makes it accessible and open to all ages, ability, gender, nationality, sexual orientation and level of practice.