01/15/2026
Step into a ritualized exploration of movement, presence, and elemental embodiment, held within a living musical landscape. We begin by gathering in a circle to arrive at the threshold — setting intentions, attuning to breath, space, and one another, and opening the field of practice. From there, we ease into gentle stretching and somatic preparation, warming and softening the body so it can listen rather than perform.
The practice unfolds as a guided, improvisational movement score through the four directions — East, South, West, and North — each a portal into a distinct energetic realm and a phase of being and becoming. Rooted in Butoh principles, the movement is slow, imagistic, and deeply sensorial, shaped by attention to weight, breath, vibration, and sound. Live music moves in relationship with the dancers, not simply as accompaniment, but as an active presence that stirs, carries, and transforms the body from within.
Together, we explore stillness, spiral, and directional awareness as acts of invocation — pathways into relationship with the body as vessel, the earth as witness, and the unseen as collaborator. We close by returning to the circle, allowing what has moved through us to settle, integrate, and remain. This is a guided, exploratory movement ritual offered with choice and consent at its core; participants are invited to move at their own pace, honor personal boundaries, and take rest as needed. Stillness, witnessing, and non-movement are fully welcome forms of participation.
Maya Kaufmann is a movement artist, educator, and ritualist prayerformer whose work is rooted in the belief that the body is a site of knowledge, devotion, and transformation. Raised by Zen meditation teachers and authors, she grew up immersed in contemplative practice, shaping a movement philosophy grounded in presence, deep listening, and reverence for what emerges through the body. Drawing from modern dance, belly fusion, Butoh, and somatic traditions, her approach honors both form and flow, structure and surrender, inviting movement to arise as inquiry rather than display.
