About this Event
Bydd Cyfraniad Storiel i Ŵyl Amgueddfeydd Cymru yn dechrau gyda trosolwg diddorol i fath o berfformiad dawns Japaneaidd, butoh.
Efallai nad ydych yn ymwybodol o'r enw, ond mae'n debyg eich bod wedi gweld ei ddylanwad. Pan wnaeth Jacob Elordi droi ei hun yn y Creature ar gyfer Frankenstein Guillermo del Toro yn 2025, y corfflun araf, crwm, bron yn anffodus a ddaeth â'r rhan i'r swydd echo oedd ffurf ddawns Japaneg sydd â gwreiddiau'n dyddio'n ôl i'r 1950au: butoh.
Mae'r digwyddiad Storiel hwn, sy'n rhan o Wyl Rebelious Bodies, yn gyfle i ddarganfod butoh am y tro cyntaf. Fe'i greuwyd a sefydlwyd y fath yma o ddawns yn Japan ar ôl yr Ail Ryfel Byd drwy gydweithrediad Tatsumi Hijikata a Kazuo Ohno. Dechreuodd butoh fel gwrthod fwriadol o mewnforion y Gorllewin fel ballet. Yn ei wraidd roedd butoh yn chwilio am ffordd o symud a oedd yn perthyn i gorff Japan, a nid wedi ei fenthyg ohono gan ddiwyllianau eraill . Mae'n enwog am ei anoddedd i'w diffinio, ond mae'n cynnwys themâu cyffredin megis delweddau twyllodrus a thaboo, sefyllfaoedd eithafol, defnydd o colur corff gwyn, a symudiadau araf.
Ers hynny, mae butoh wedi lledaenu ac wedi newid ledled y byd, gan gymryd ffurfiau newydd ymhell y tu hwnt i'w gyd-destun gwreiddiol.
Mae’r rhaglen hon yn cynnwys dangosiad ffilm Melancholia – Portread o M, sef darn ffilm/dawns gan Mitsuyo Uesugi. Hyfforddodd Uesugi mewn ballet clasurol cyn dod yn fyfyriwr ac yn gynorthwy-ydd hirdymor i Kazuo Ohno yn y 1970au a’r 80au, gan fynd ymlaen i fod yn un o’r merched cyntaf i sefydlu’i hun fel perfformwraig butoh unigol. Creodd Melancholia, mewn cydweithrediad ag artist fideo Makiko Takamatsu, yn 2021 fel ymateb i darfu’r pandemig ar berfformiadau byw, wedi’i llwyfannu mewn gofod cyhoeddus awyr-agored ac yn archwilio beth yw ystyr wirionedd pan fydd cynulleidfaoedd yn ymgysylltu o bellter. Yn ogystal â’r sgrînio ffilm, bydd dawnsiwr butoh Siapan/Prydeinig a chynhyrchydd gwyl Rebelious Bodies, Mai Burns a dawnswraig o Ogledd Cymru, Melissa Pasut, yn cyflwyno cyflwyniad i butoh, gyda pherfformiad byw byr gan Pasut, a fydd hefyd yn talu teyrnged i gyd-ddawnsiwr butoh Gogledd Cymru, y diweddar, Dymphna D’Arcy, atgof bod gan y math bach, radical hwn o ddawns wreiddiau yma hefyd.
Rhaglen y Dydd
12yp-5yp: Arddangosfa | Ystafell Addysg 1 a 2
Cyflwyniad i hanes butoh yn Japan gyda phosteri, llyfrau, a fideos, gyda sylw arbennig ar waith y diweddar Dymphna D’Arcy - dawnsiwr butoh Cymreig.
2yp-4yp: Darlith a Sgrînio Ffilm | Ystafell Addysg 1 a 2
Bydd Mai Burns yn rhoi cyflwyniad cyffredinol i butoh a chyflwyniad i waith meistr butoh Japaneaidd Mitsuyo Uesugi. Bydd dawnsiwr butoh Melissa Pasut yn cyflwyno sgwrs am gysylltiad butoh â Chymru, yn ogystal â chyflwyniad o'i hymchwil butoh ei hun. Bydd hyn yn cael ei ddilyn gan sgrînio o berfformiad Mitsuyo Uesugi Melancholia - Portrait of M o 2021.
4yp: Perfformiad | Amgueddfa Brif
Bydd dawnsiwr butoh Melissa Pasut yn perfformio darn arbennig yn Amgueddfa Brif Storiel sy'n ymateb i arddangosfa Christine Mills.
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Butoh North Wales
This years Storiel contribution to the Museum Festival of Wales will start with a fascinating insight and overview into the Japanese performance dance, butoh.
You may not know the name, but you've probably seen its influence. When Jacob Elordi transformed himself into the Creature for Guillermo del Toro's 2025 Frankenstein, the slow, contorted, almost inhuman physicality he brought to the role echoed a Japanese dance form with roots going back to the 1950s: butoh.
This Storiel event, part of Rebellious Bodies Festival, is a chance to discover butoh for the first time. Born in postwar Japan through the collaboration of Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno, butoh began as a deliberate rejection of Western imports like ballet - a search for a way of moving that belonged to the Japanese body, not borrowed from it. It is notoriously hard to pin down, but common threads include grotesque and taboo imagery, absurd or extreme situations, use of white body paint, and slow movements.
Since then, butoh has spread and mutated across the world, taking on new forms far beyond its original context.
This program includes a screening of Melancholia – A Portrait of M, a film/dance piece by Mitsuyo Uesugi. Uesugi trained in classical ballet before becoming a student and long-time assistant of Kazuo Ohno in the 1970s and 80s, going on to become one of the first women to establish herself as a solo butoh performer. Melancholia, made in collaboration with video artist Makiko Takamatsu, was created in 2021 as a response to the pandemic's disruption of live performance, staged in an open-air public space and exploring what "reality" means when audiences engage from a distance.
As well as the film screening, Japanese/British butoh dancer and festival producer Mai Burns and North Wales-based dancer Melissa Pasut will present an introduction to butoh, with a short live performance by Pasut, who will also pay tribute to fellow North Wales butoh dancer Dymphna D'Arcy, who passed away recently — a reminder that this small, radical dance form has roots here too.
Program
12pm-5pm: Exhibition | Education room 1 and 2
An introduction to the history of butoh in Japan with posters, books, and videos, with a highlight on the work of the late Dymphna D’Arcy - a Welsh butoh dancer.
2pm-4pm: Lecture & Film Screening | Education room 1 and 2
Mai Burns will provide a general introduction to butoh and introduction to the work of Japanese butoh master Mitsuyo Uesugi. Butoh dancer Melissa Pasut will present a talk butoh’s Welsh connection, as well as an introduction of her own butoh research. These will be followed by a film screening of Mitsuyo Uesugi’s performance Melancholia - A Portrait of M from 2021.
4pm: Performance | Main Gallery
Butoh dancer Melissa Pasut performs a special piece in Storiel's main Gallery that responds to Christine Mills exhibition.
Image credit: Makoto Onozuka
Event venue & nearby stays
STORIEL, Ffordd Gwynedd, Bangor, United Kingdom
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