Transformation Workshop
RenGyoSoh offers occasional workshops on the theme of transformation led by Yokko (she/he/they), who has been creating this workshop since 2016. It was originated inspired by Butoh and Ritual Movement, which was the seed. Yokko has been evolving this workshop past years synthesizing all of their other practices, and offering this workshop to cultivate, to develop, and to transform our beings, in other words, to bloom our full potentials in life and any creative circumstance, and beyond.
This is a spiritual transformation workshop through Butoh, ritual, movement studies, and more. Anyone and everyone is welcome to this workshop, no previous butoh training required.
This is a spiritual transformation workshop through Butoh, ritual, movement studies, and more. Anyone and everyone is welcome to this workshop, no previous butoh training required.
UP COMING!
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ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:
Yokko (she/he/they) is an interdisciplinary artist from Japan, specialized in Butoh, Movement, Acting, Physical Theatre, and Yoga. She is also a choreographer, a director, a Theatre educator, a certified therapeutic essential yoga and Ayurvedic yoga therapy instructor, and USUI Jikiden Reiki Master Teacher as well. She has acted in, devised and choreographed a variety of local and international shows, having won several awards, including "Best One-Woman Show", "Best Choreography" "Best Physical Theatre" and "Best Actress" for Butoh Medea (United Solo NYC 2014 & 2015 at Theatre Row, TVolution 2018 Hollywood Fringe Awards). Butoh Medea was selected to perform in Warsaw, Poland. (United Solo Europe 2015, Teatre Syrena), toured Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015, nominated The Asian Arts Award. It has been touring Europe and Universities in the USA since 2016. (Butoh Medea official website) Other Theatre credits include Lone Wolf Tribe's Body Concert (Labapalooza! 2018 at St. Ann's Warehouse), Hide Your Fires (Pan Asian Rep's NU Works, United Solo 2017: Theatre Row), BALDY (CRS NYC, United Solo 2013, Hollywood Fringe 2013, Fringe NYC 2012), Dance Credits Include Shira Hime Ryu (NY Butoh Institute Festival 2018 at Theatre For The New City), Hijikata Tatsumi's Last Words (Dance Medium, Noguchi Room, Hijikata Archive, Keio University, 2018), ManJuShaGe:A flower on earth, A flower (Dance Medium, Noguchi Room, Hijikata Archive, Keio University, 2017), FACET (Irondale Center, White Wave, Hollywood Fringe 2013). Her choreographed work, SHINKA has been received several awards including Outstanding Premiere Production of a play and Outstanding Choreography from the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation (IT Awards 2019). Yokko also acted in several local and international films, one of which is the Student Academy Winner film, Cloud-Kumo (2016). Recently she has been appearing several music videos as a Butoh dancer including Cage The Elephant (Grammy Winner - Best Rock Album 2017)- Ready To Let Go (2019), NOIA- AUSENCIAS (2019) directed by Amy Gardner, POW! - Dream Decay (2019), and Automatic - Too Much Money (2019) B.A. in Theatre (UAlbany), M.F.A. in Acting (The Actors Studio) Yokko's official website |
Artist Statement
My themes in my work are transformation, life and connection. As a performing artist, a creator and a teacher, I would love to focus on transformation not only physically, but mentally, emotionally, energetically and spiritually. I would like to create a work which comes from deep inside of us; something that awakens us, something like a screaming of our souls, and I embrace the raw and authentic expressions coming from our bodies. No matter who we are, and where we are from - I believe these primal voices have the vibrancy that resonate us to connect, and I hope that lead us to understand each other in the deep level. I would love to share my heart to connect with others in the world. I am very intrigued and interested in the relationship between human beings & nature, physical expression & its possibilities, and how our work will reflect the society we live in now. I use our bodies to explore, express, and share our voices. The primal art forms I use are Butoh, Theatre and visual arts, and I am open to collaborate with any other arts forms existing. Butoh awakens my soul; Butoh guides me to what I am. - Yokko |
Currently Yokko serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor in Movement at Actors Studio Drama School MFA Program, International Performance Ensemble BA directing & BA Acting at Sand College Performing Arts School at Pace University, and Teaching Artist at The New Group Acting Studio at Long Island University Brooklyn BFA Acting , The Lee Strasberg Theatre Film Television Studio program at NYU BFA Acting.
Past TRANSFORMATION Workshop
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2024, Butoh & Movement for Performing Artist (5 days intensive) Turin, Italy
2023 Transformation; listening to your body 2020-2021 Cleansing 2020; Transforming to 2021 (Online) Dec.22 Cleansing & Finding a seed of own flower Jan.9-10 Letting go and planting the seed of a flower 2020 Aug. 8-9, Summer Workshop (ONLINE) 2019 Nov. 16 Fall Workshop (NYC) July 27th, Summer Workshop (NYC) Feb. 1-2 Winter Workshop (NYC) 2018 Aug. 10-12. Summer Infinite Possibilities; Transformation April. 27 UNFIX NYC Creating Your Path; Transformation March 8-10, Winter Finding Your Path; Transformation 2017 Oct. 19-21 Fall 3days 10 hours Memories in Body; Transformation Aug. 3-5 Summer 3 days 10 hours Finding Roots; Transformation Jan. 20-21 Winter Let WAVE Us! Before Birth; Between Life & Death 2016 Fall Transformation: A light in the darkness Spring Transformation: Be The Change Winter Transformation: Beyond sky; beneath Earth |
Do what you believe,
Believe what you do; And, Surrender To Unknown path; No fear Dark to the light, We emerge from the darkness, And, We will be guided To the light. We surrender- To the creation. -Yokko |
