Butoh and Compositional Play
with Denise Fujiwara
Sept 8 - Sept 12 2025
10:00am - 2:00pm
ABOUT BUTOH AND COMPOSITIONAL PLAY
​Butoh is a dance-theatre practice that opens our capacities for creativity and hones our skills to stay open to that fullness while in performance. In this workshop, we will investigate the interplay of improvisation, compositional choices and performance with the art and craft of choreography to create spontaneous compositions.
This is a workshop for practitioners of movement, physical theatre and other creative pursuits. Experience in Butoh is not necessary.
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COST
$300
LOCATION
Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre (CCDT), Studio C
509 Parliament St, Toronto, ON
*Bursaries are possible. Please enquire at info@fujiwaradance.com.
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Photo by John Lauener
L - R: Lucy Rupert, Brodie Stevenson, Gerry Trengtham, Jillian Peever, Jen Hum, Sylvie Bouchard, Rebecca Hope Terry, Miko Sobreira
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Solo Dance Lab
with Denise Fujiwara
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January 11, 18, 25 & February 1, 8, 2026
12-4pm
ABOUT SOLO DANCE LAB
The Solo Dance Lab supports choreographers (emerging and experienced) to take their creative work to the next level; to find greater depth and complexity in their perspectives on the art and craft of solo choreography. The art of the solo, the most challenging of choreographic forms, can bring one to the creation of dance in a way that is intimate, challenging and revelatory. Its process is a path to finding, developing and deepening one’s own voice as a dance artist. Through this Lab, which includes prompts, insights, assignments, informal showings feedback and discussion, we give space to ask questions, experiment, and allow for trial and error, all in service of growing our knowledge, skills and ability to create solos.
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Eligibility: Choreographers should have a work-in-progress to focus on throughout the lab. Cohorts of 4 - 5 choreographers are organized to maximize enrichment, so each Lab has limited enrollment. You must be available to attend all 5 sessions. Choreographers should have at least 3 of their works performed publicly, (not including school shows).
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COST
$400*
LOCATION
Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre (CCDT)
509 Parliament St, Toronto, ON
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*Bursaries are possible. Please enquire at info@fujiwaradance.com.
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​ABOUT DENISE FUJIWARA
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Denise Fujiwara’s work as a dance artist has developed over 45 years of intensive practice, performance and study. Her mentors include the late Japanese Butoh masters Natsu Nakajima and Yukio Waguri, and master dance pedagogue and dramaturg, Elizabeth Langley. She has developed a practice of Butoh that artfully assists participants to experience deeply embodied movement through the cultivation of curiosity, the imagination, awareness and presence. Her Butoh repertoire has travelled to 4 continents. She has led workshops and master classes across Canada and the U.S.A., in Denmark, Poland, Germany, the U.K., Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador and India. Noppera-bo, created with filmmaker William Yong, won a One-Reeler Short Film Competition 2020 Award of Excellence in Los Angeles and her live works, Eunoia and Moving Parts continue to tour. She recently received the Canada Council for the Arts Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts and distinguished career achievement.