CAPTURING BUTTERFLIES
Butoh Intensive — Portland
June 26–28
What if the body didn’t organize itself the way it’s been taught to?
This work disrupts habit at its root—
how you perceive, orient, and move through space.
Butoh here isn’t found in aesthetic or concept.
It’s listening, responding, transforming, and being transformed.
We practice disrupting hierarchy in the body—
falling away from it, deviating from it, reaching beyond it.
We begin wherever you are, using improvisation, structured scores, and choreography as tools for attention, response, and transformation—constructs and parameters meant to lead us toward our own liberation and freedom.
Off-balance. Uncertain. Precise.
You don’t force it—you create the conditions.
Attention is the work. Vulnerability is a guiding method.
You won’t find it by trying.
You might catch it in the quiet.
Like capturing butterflies.
✨ Culminates in a Sunday evening showing + artist talk
✨ All bodies / backgrounds welcome
Sliding scale $265–$385
Drop-ins limited. For more information about Registration visit ———————-photo by Ness Hopkins
Meet Meshi Chavez (@redleafwalks ) Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance, who spent this past J-term guiding students through Butoh — the post-WWII Japanese dance form that asks dancers to move with full presence while releasing control, turning movement into a quiet encounter with the self rather than an act of expression.
In his class, Meshi emphasized the mental work behind the movement: learning how to sit with the part of yourself that judges, narrates, and tries to “perform,” rather than letting it take over. As his teachers taught him, Butoh doesn’t aim to express something, it asks you to feel deeply, and to let whatever emerges come from that depth.
For students, this became a process of wrestling with big questions: Who am I? How do I see myself? And how do I set that aside? The studio became a space not just for movement, but for unlearning, reflection, and quiet transformation.
Art is my boyfriend. We’ve been in a deep meaningful relationship now for sometime. Sometimes it’s contentious relationship, and sometimes it’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of. Here’s to more years together! Happy Valentine’s Day
Students in Dance 0160: Introduction to Dance lead by @redleafwalks came together for an end-of-semester showing that celebrated creativity, collaboration, and performance.
The showcase highlighted the work students developed throughout the semester while giving them the opportunity to share their artistry and growth with the campus community.
-LINE UP CHANGE-
Join us April 18 for our Branching Out Annual Symposium!
This years line up features teachers from across our state who teach all different kinds of dance forms! We invite you to come to town for the day, try some new forms of dance and movement, and stick around for our NACHMO works-in-progress showing!!
If you’ve been wanting expand your dance horizons, meet more dancers across the state, or be inspired by some of the incredibly talented dancers we have, then we hope to see you there!!
Symposium will begin at 9:30 am at @murmurations_vt 208 Flynn Ave, Unit 3K! Tickets and full class descriptions available via links in our bio. There is a 5$ discount for VDA members on the workshops, reach out to them [email protected] with your associated email for promo code!
SCHEDULE:
9:30 - 10:45 AM - @redleafwalks Meshi Chavez - Butoh: Rewild the Body
11:00 - 12:15 - @soniamustdance Sonia Plumb - Funny Business: Dance, Props and Comedic Timing
Lunch Break: 12:15 - 1:00
1:00 - 2:15 - @caitlmm Caitlin Morgan - Contemporary Floorwork
2:30 - 3:45 - @hannasatt Hanna Satterlee - Improvisation as Composition
4:00 - 5:15 - @nicoledagesse Nicole Dagesse - Contemporary Aerial
7:00 PM - NACHMO Works-In-Progress
Monthly Sunday morning dance with Meshi Chavez: Once a month in Bristol, Vermont, Meshi Chavez offers a special Sunday dance session—an invitation to dance, sweat, and connect through movement.
This 90-minute class is a practice: a space for movement meditation, embodied exploration, and presence. We begin gently, taking time to arrive. Through prompts, imagery, and spacious guidance, Meshi offers a framework for discovery—supporting each dancer in their own unfolding movement.
We get sweaty. We listen deeply. We connect profoundly.
We practice this practice—together.
With music as our backdrop and the body as our guide, we return again and again to the simple truth that movement and presence create transformative moments.
A place to show up as you are, a space to connect deeply with yourself and others, a moment to be present, seen, and felt.
We close with stillness and a brief circle to ground, reflect, and connect. All bodies and levels of experience are welcome.
Dates: January 11th, February 22nd, & March 15th
Time: 12:30–2:00 PM ET
Cost: $25 -$20 Sliding Scale via Venmo or Cash
Location: Open Sky Studio, 8 Main St, Bristol, VT. Space is limited. Registration is required.
Formation/Transformation: Structure as a Pathway to Freedom
Join Meshi Chavez for “Formation/Transformation,” a dance workshop that explores the vital connection between structure and freedom. What role do precision, constraints, and frameworks play in fostering transformation? In what way does form serve as a pathway to discover liberation?
This workshop examines form, structure, and constraints as avenues for more expressive movement while encouraging improvisation, choice, and discovery. Instead of perceiving limitations as obstacles, we will explore them as creative catalysts that deepen our awareness and expand our expressive skills. Chavez will guide participants through an immersive exploration of specificity, demonstrating how disciplined embodiment can unlock new realms of creative expression.
In this workshop, Chavez will lead participants in using presence to fully inhabit each moment, emphasizing genuine discovery over polished movement. We will consider embodiment not as a final destination but as a dynamic starting point for deeper creative expression and connection.
Whether you are new to Butoh or an experienced dancer, this workshop provides a vibrant space to engage with the transformative power of dance, courage, and creativity, fostering a deeper connection with the world around you.
Meshi Chavez is a seasoned Butoh practitioner, queer artist, and MFA graduate from the University of the Arts. As a Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance at Middlebury College, his work explores embodiment, presence, and the radical potential of movement. Chavez has trained extensively with Butoh masters Natsu Nakajima and Denise Fujiwara, shaping his approach to dance as a practice of deep inquiry. His workshops create space for divergence, spaciousness, and the shedding of colonial legacies, fostering a profound connection between movement, creativity, and Queer Futurity.
DATES: November 6-8, 2025
TIMES: Thursday 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Friday 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Saturday 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
* A short break will be included on Saturday
FULL WORKSHOP: $175
THURSDAY OR FRIDAY ONLY: $60
SATURDAY ONLY: $90
At @flyona_wall@musiciansandmovers
