Butoh Atelier 2026 with Stefan Maria Marb
Totem.Dance – a ritual sculpture

The upcoming Butoh Atelier Totem.Dance – a ritual sculpture deals with ethnological symbolism that was originally brought into the collective consciousness by the First Nations peoples of North America. There, the term totem refers not only to the religious-mythological meaning associated with an animal, such as the thunderbird, but also to kinship with an ancestral clan. In the studio, we want to explore the traditional concept of the totem and try to translate it into our modern times. The following questions will be central to this exploration: What is my totem and what might it look like? Is it an animal, a tree or perhaps something immaterial? How can I express my totem and dance with it? In the preparatory phase, we will deal with these topics intensively in class and explore them in specific improvisations. In the subsequent intensive rehearsals, we will then combine our findings into a joint choreography and finally unite them into a creative composition, which will culminate in a public performance with live music.

Planned performance in April 2026: Hall 50 of the Domagkateliers in Munich

For beginners and advanced dancers.