Azu Minami 南 阿豆 butohdancer, choreographer, director
Artist Biography
Drawing from her passion for illustration which began in childhood, Minami Azu began her art career as a designer after completing her studies at Musashino Art University. She transitioned into creating work for contemporary dance, butoh, and performance art by incorporating imagery created with text and drawing, and the dances that exist in mundane everyday life.
The year after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake (and tsunami), Minami received The 44th Dance Critics Society of Japan New Face Award for her work Scar Tissue I and Scar Tissue Ⅱ which she created from the image of her own surgical scars and the scars of the Tohoku earthquake.And developed the ideas further in Scar Tissue III (2013) and Scar Tissue IV (2016).
This project series has been performed at venues in Japan, in France by invitation to the Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis in 2017, and at Case Western Reserve University, USA.
In collaboration with Cleveland, Ohio-based photographer Abe Frajndlich, Minami co-created the first iteration of Sekaijyuu ga Gekijyou de aru (The World is the Theater) project in 2008. This work has taken a variety of forms, including butoh workshops and international site-specific dance photography among the skyscrapers and on the subways of New York City, in the ancient temples of Kyoto, and by the Venitian seaside in Italy.
Since 2012,once a year,she has announced what she has gained that year in her own solo performances.In 2022, she won the NDA Award, which is equivalent to runner-up, at the NDA (New Dance for Asia) International Festival in South Korea. The following year, in 2023, she did participate in the NDA International Festival winners' performance.
Her recent activities include being invited to Fukuoka Fringe Festival to perform her solo finger of flower in 2019, and participating in the Akita Butoh Village Winter residency in 2020. From 2012 to the present she has been putting on annual solo performances, to share what she has gained that year. She is a founding member of Big Family Tokyo, a community organization offering movement classes to participants of all ages and skill levels, including children. Minami teaches butoh-based workshops to bring her back to her artistic roots, and help make the traditional art form more accessible.
Established a voluntary organization,“Contemporary Dengaku”in 2021.
Dengaku,a traditional Japanese event, involves singing and dancing while planting rice.
Contemporary DENGAKU means dancing while working or going about your daily life even in modern times.
Modern Japanese people can only dance in special places (for example, clubs and festivals).
I want more people to enjoy dancing easily, and I want to convey the joy of dancing.
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（日本語）
幼少より絵を描いていたころから、絵画に興味があり、デザインの仕事をしながら、武蔵野美術大学で美術を学び、言葉や絵のイメージ、生活が踊りになる舞踏やコンテンポラリーダンス、パフォーマンスアートを知り、作品を創作を始める。
震災の翌年、自身の手術の傷跡と震災後の傷跡とのイメージから、2012年4月自主企画ソロ舞踏作品『Scar TissueⅠ』『Scar TissueⅡ』を発表。その2作品で舞踊批評家協会新人賞を受賞。
2013年『Scar TissueⅢ』、2016年『Scar TissueⅣ』発表。
2017年フランス、舞踏フェス＆ランコントルコレオグラフィー招聘。
写真家Abe Frajndlichとのコラボレーション『世界中が劇場である』プロジェクト、NY、イタリア、日本、クリーブランドにて撮影や舞踏ワークショップを行う。2018年アメリカ、Case Western Reserve Universityにて『Scar Tissue』発表。2019年、福岡フリンジフェスティバル招聘。
2022年、韓国にてNDA(New Dance for Asia)International Festival、準優勝にあたるNDA賞受賞。翌2023年、同NDA International Festival受賞者公演に参加。
誰でもできる（子供たちなど）舞踏ワークショップやBig famiy Tokyoとしてのコミニティーダンスを行う。2020年、秋田Butoh Village Winter2020（レジデンス）参加。年に1回自主企画にてソロ公演を行っている。
2021年任意団体コンテンポラリー田楽を設立。
日本の伝統行事である田楽は、田植えをしながら歌い踊ります。
現代田楽とは、現代においても仕事や日常生活を送りながら踊ることを意味します。
現代の日本人は特別な場所（クラブやお祭りなど）でしか踊れません。私はもっと多くの人に気軽にダンスを楽しんでもらいたい、ダンスの楽しさを伝えたい。
Artistic Statement
My artistic exploration began at a series of Butoh workshops that used paintings, poetry, text, images of everyday life and breath as tools for creation, using Butoh techniques rather than focusing only on creating technically specific and rhythmic choreography.
Born in a Japanese farmhouse and growing up in the beautiful countryside, I was immersed in ancient Japanese customs and often had the opportunity to dance with nature. I would collaborate with nature, creating installations and performing in spaces such as rice fields and bamboo forests. Where I grew up, there are traditional Japanese harvesting rituals with a unique aspect: taking inspiration from the surrounding environment, breath, and the five senses, people create an improvisational dance to celebrate the harvest. My artistic roots stem from these cultural experiences and practice; I always begin my work with an explorational movement improvisation based on a specific image before deciding on the choreography.
In my artistic investigations, I approach scarring (both physical and experiential), search for ways of healing, and observe what happens after the process of reconstruction begins. This exploration led to the creation of my works Scar Tissue I and Scar Tissue Ⅱ, which received The 44th Dance Critics Society of Japan New Face Award. This project series was created a year after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, taking inspirations from images of my own surgical scars and the scars of the earthquake. The series was presented at Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales in France in 2017 and Case Western Reserve University in the United States in 2018. In addition, I am also a qualified medical yoga instructor. I explore how dance and movement can act as a remedy and treatment for not only physical wounds, but also emotional and spiritual trauma.
I believe Butoh is a dance of the "shining body", a concept that describes the transition of a fulfilled life form into a dancing form that overflows with a shining energy, presence, and expressiveness. Each body carries infinite possibilities for ways of existing and moving, and when hidden potentials appear on stage, I see a great dance that rises and blooms like a flower.
OR Each body carries infinite possibilities for connecting our internal and external selves, and when hidden potentials appear on stage, I see a great dance that rises and blooms like a flower.
I believe Butoh is a dance of the "shining body", that overflows when life shines and blossoms. Each body carries infinite possibilities for ways of existing and moving, and when hidden potentials appear on stage, I see a great dance that rises and blooms like a flower.
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（日本語）
私はダンスのリズムがある振り付けではなく、絵画や詩（言葉）、生活のイメージや呼吸を手法とする舞踏のワークショップから踊り始めた。
私は日本の農業の家に生まれた。美しい田園風景や日本古来の風習の中で育った経験から、自然や自然を使ったインスタレーションと踊る機会があった。私はその時、五感や呼吸、空間を使ったオリジナルの踊り（それは即興五穀豊穣と無病息災を願う即興）を経験した。私の踊りの根源はそこにあった。
私は振り付けがないところから、イメージで即興をしてから振り付けを決める。
劇場では、その身体を活かしたソロ舞台やコミニティダンスのワークショップの活動をしている。
写真家Abe Frajndlichとイタリア、日本（東京・京都）、NY、クリーブランドなど様々ば場所で「世界中が劇場である」プロジェクトで写真と踊りのコラボをし続けている。
震災をきっかけに自分の手術の傷跡と震災の傷跡をイメージから「ScarTissue」シリーズ作品を始める。『Scar TissueⅠ』『Scar TissueⅡ』にて2012年舞踊批評家協会新人賞受賞。2017年フランスRencontres chorégraphiques internationales、2018年アメリカ、Case Western Reserve Universityにて発表。傷つくこと、治ること、治った時から始まること（復興）に対して探求を続けている。
体には個々に持ち合わせた無限の可能性があり、その秘めた可能性が舞台で現れた時、花が開くように踊りが立ち上がることが私はとても素晴らしい踊りだと思う。