Empty? A critique of the notion of ‘emptiness’ in Butoh and Body Weather training

Abstract

Written from an Australian practitioner's perspective, this article critically discusses the notion of the ‘empty body’ in Japanese Butoh and Body Weather training. Accounts of workshop activities led by Min Tanaka and Frank van de Ven illustrate the usage of ‘emptiness’ in the process of ‘dancing a place.’ The essay draws upon feminist theory to identify problematic connotations inherent in the notion of an empty body. Exposure to Australian postcolonial discourse casts doubt also on the appropriateness of the use of ‘emptiness’ as a starting point for movement in relation to place in the transposition of Butoh and Body Weather practices to the Australian context.