Workshop Summary
- Miriam Strasser
- May 23
- 3 min read
From May 8–10, 2026, I facilitated another sold-out Butoh-Clown workshop at Kultur Anker Zentrum Schlingermarkt with 12 participants from the fields of performance, theatre, dance, therapy, and body-based artistic research.
Over the course of three days, we explored the meeting point between Butoh and clown not as fixed techniques, but as embodied attitudes rooted in presence, slowness, vulnerability, perception, play, and radical honesty.
Through improvisation, minimal movement, inner imagery, awareness practices, and collective exercises, the group entered a process that balanced lightness and depth, humour and stillness, structure and uncertainty. Particular highlights included movement transmissions, mask programming experiments, laboratory-style creation phases, and the final presentations, which revealed a wide spectrum of poetic, absurd, intimate, and surprising performative worlds.
What emerged was a temporary space of shared research — one that invited participants to stay with not-knowing, to listen differently, and to discover new forms of expression through the body.
I am deeply grateful for the openness, courage, curiosity, and generosity that everyone brought into the space.
Participant Testimonials
“The workshop opened up new perspectives for me on slowness, movement, and play. The atmosphere within the group was positive and joyful. I felt completely at ease thanks to the sensitive guidance and support throughout the process. What stayed with me most were the movement transitions and the diverse final presentations.”
— Sonja
“What I take away from this workshop is the reminder that something can emerge when I trust the body. I was particularly impressed by the exercises involving water, as well as the image of continuously growing larger and larger.
For me, the point of connection between Butoh and clown lies in making the inner world visible and tangible for the audience. At the same time, I experienced the two approaches as fundamentally different. While clowning, in my understanding, is strongly rooted in craft, precision and conscious composition, Butoh seems to emerge much more from a place beyond the rational mind. It was precisely this contrast that I found so fascinating.
One of the challenges for me was letting go of the need to control everything with the mind and learning to trust the body instead.
I was especially moved by how quickly a safe space emerged within the group. The atmosphere was wonderful - like a cloud bed you could completely surrender yourself to.
As an introduction to the subject, I found the workshop very balanced, coherent, and well-structured.”
— Markus
“From the workshop, I take with me unforgettable encounters and many deeply moving moments. I also take with me a simple, uplifting sense of humour, naturalness, and a new form of authenticity and freedom from illusion.
Miriam has an excellent sense for guiding a very diverse group into a shared direction in which each person can find their own path toward their personal Butoh-Clown.
She created a very safe space in which intimacy, humour, authenticity, and connection could unfold naturally - a space where we could let go of expectations and simply be and play.
I especially remember the exercises involving movement transmission and transformation, as well as the “Butoh walking with resistance from a partner.” I experienced the connection between Butoh and clown as paradoxical, challenging, and at the same time deeply inspiring - definitely a field I want to explore more deeply.
One challenge for me was staying true to the Butoh state while also remaining present and readable to the audience as a clown.
The atmosphere of the workshop was open, inspiring, and shaped by genuine curiosity. The diversity of the group created a special sense of shared research and connection.”
— Bea
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