Boston Butoh Festival: Bringing the art of Butoh to Boston

The Boston Butoh Festival began in 2019 with a weekend of performances and workshops featuring artists Yuko Kaseki (Berlin) and Zack Fuller (NYC) in collaboration with Emily Smith and Michael Evans as well as local student artists of the Monday Butoh Class taught by Ellen Godena in Cambridge. The performances and workshops took place that year at the Green Street Studios space in Cambridge, MA. A second festival was planned for April 2020 at the Boston Center for the Arts in 2020, but alas, the pandemic prevented the show from going on that year. We pulled together to offer a series of workshops by Yumiko Yoshioka (Berlin) in 2023 at the Dance Complex in Cambridge and… finally produced another full festival at the Boston Center for the Arts in April 2025! The 2025 festival featured international butoh and performance artists including Joan Laage / Kogut Butoh, Mitsu Salmon, Rosemary Candelario, Sara Zalek, Alejandra Herrera Silva, Julie Andree T, and Serena Gabriels. In August 2026, we debut Yumiko Yoshioka’s performance, “100 Light Years of Solitude” as well as 3 days of her Body Resonance workshop at SOMart @Hive in Somerville.

What is Butoh? What is Performance Art?

“The world’s dance started from standing, but mine started from not being able to stand,” Tatsumi Hijikata the founder of butoh, once said. His butoh showcased the leper, the diseased body; the “encounter with something in the body that has gone astray.”

Butoh first appeared in post-World War II Japan in 1959, under the collaboration of Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno, "in the protective shadow of the 1950s and 1960s avant-garde". A key impetus of the art form was a reaction against the Japanese dance scene then, which Hijikata felt was overly based on imitating the West and following traditional styles like Noh. Thus, he sought to "turn away from the Western styles of dance, ballet and modern,” and to create a new aesthetic that embraced the "squat, earthbound physique... and the natural movements of the common folk". This desire found form in the early movement of "ankoku butō". The term means "dance of darkness". Rather than aspiring to an aesthetic ideal, the dance attempts to expose the joys and sorrows of life, exploring the most fundamental elements of physical and psychological existence. It crosses the boundaries between dance and theatre, creating a unique form of expression that engages, moves and intrigues.

From “Butoh: The Dance of Death and Disease” by William Andrews, Japan Times

About Mobius

Mobius (est. 1977) is a non-profit, artist-run organization whose mission is to generate, shape and test experimental art. Mobius is committed to structuring environments that foster projects incorporating a wide range of disciplines. This approach sets in motion situations where the artist’s impact can be seen locally, nationally and internationally. Constructing art initiatives outside accepted frameworks and encouraging animated discourse with the public are fundamental to Mobius. http://www.mobius.org

About SOMart

SomArt is a program of the Somerville Arts Council which seeks to support the creation of new work in performance, visual arts, and trans/interdisciplinary disciplines. As a municipally-run program, SomArt is unique in providing subsidized space for artist work space under the umbrella of City government. SomArt is more than just space. We currently serve over 350 local working artists focusing on performing and visual artists. Visit our directory to find out more about who is served. If you are a working artist and would like to become a SomArt Artist, follow the steps below to get started.

Currently, SomArt has 3 locations, each geared towards specific priorities outlined below. Each space is unique in physicality and amenities available to artists. All spaces have movement-safe flooring with either wood on wood sub-floor, or sprung dance floor with marley. Both the Hive and Armory 3rd floor have no outside shoes policies to maintain a hygienic environment for all. https://somartspace.org/

All spaces are open to all performing artists within the greater metro area. You do not need to be a Somerville resident.