NW Butoh Festival - Workshop 3 - Friday, May 15th, 2026

Workshop Artist - Joan Laage

After studying with masters Kazuo Ohno and Yoko Ashikawa in Tokyo in the late 80s and performing with Ashikawa’s group Gnome, Joan Laage/Kogut Butoh settled in Seattle and founded Dappin’ Butoh in 1990. She is a co-founder of DAIPANbutoh Collective. Joan performed at the New York, Chicago, Portland, Boulder, Seattle, Salish Sea, Vienna and Paris butoh festivals, and a butoh symposium at the University of California (LA). A Ph.D. in Dance & Related Arts from Texas Woman’s University, she is featured in Sondra Fraleigh’s books and in Tanya Calamoneri’s Butoh America. Joan taught at PSU’s summer programs focused on Asian arts. She creates site-specific work for Japanese gardens in Seattle annually. Since living in Krakow 2004-2006, she has been known as Kogut (rooster). www.seattlebutoh-laage.com

Time -  10:00am - 2:00pm

LOCATION - New Expressive Works, 810 SE Belmont, Ste 2, PDX 97214. [In the WYSE Buliding. Use building doors located on the South side of the building.] 

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL - The Northwest Butoh Festival will be held on May 13th through the 16th, 2026. There will be twelve performances over three nights and four workshop

Artists include Joan Laaga/Kogut Butoh, Julie Becton Gillum, Minja Mertanen, Vanessa Skantze, Iván Espinosa and Co, Ash Pillar, Arlo King, Amapola, Salty Xi Jie Ng, Olga Kravtsova, Monel Chang and Didi (Freddi) Wyss. Workshop guides will be Minja Mertanen, Vanessa Skantze, Julie Becton Gillum and Joan Laage.