“Working with Tadashi Endo at LEIMAY deepened my understanding of Butoh in ways I truly hadn’t expected. I came to the workshop looking to reconnect with my movement in preparation for creating a piece for voice, dance and electronics. So I wasn’t sure what I hoped to get out of it except to increase my vocabulary and to be challenged. Tadashi surprised me with his very particular approach to Butoh; I’ve studied Butoh with several different dancer-educators, but had somehow missed the depth to which the form requires us to go in our imagination. I found myself allowing myself to move past mental barriers and to search for a deeper sense of movement, following my body and mind into gestures –and learning to trust that process. This was really what I got out of the 2 week intensive: trust your intuition and your body. I am grateful that LEIMAY took the bold step in inviting Tadashi to come and teach; not many spaces have the courage to invite that kind of work, which can both deepen and revitalize a performer’s approach. I think a key element of this particular intensive was the performance at the end. For me —as a long time performer— moving into the public eye was key after such deeply personal work. In a sense, the performance at the end allowed me to road-test what we had done and drive it home. I feel I still have more to explore, but I certainly feel the intensive was exactly what I needed.”
– Rachel Austin, LEIMAY LUDUS Performance Lab – Tadashi Endo Participant, 2019