Vangeline Theater/New York Butoh Institute
announce
New York Butoh Institute in Dance Parade New York
Saturday, May 16, 2026
FREE
Photo by FRANTVISUALS- NY BUTOH INSTITUTE in 2025
Vangeline Theater/New York Butoh Institute are excited to announce that The New York Butoh Institute will perform in Dance Parade New York on May 16, 2026. The 20th Annual Parade and Festival will feature 10,000 dancers with over 100 unique styles of dance. A Ribbon Cutting Ceremony kicks off the event at 11:45am at 17th Street and Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) The festivities will commence with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:30 AM on West 17th Street and Avenue of the Americas.
Performances by renowned dance troupes, including The New York Butoh Institute, will set the stage for the vibrant procession. Starting at 12:00 PM, all dance groups will move down the Avenue of the Americas, merging traditional and contemporary styles in an extraordinary fusion of movement and music. For more information, please visit www.danceparade.org.
This year’s Butoh performance will be choreographed by Yazmin Gonzalez for The New York Butoh Institute.
Featured dancers from the New York Butoh Institute:
Yazmin Gonzalez, Genevieve Jencson, Robyn Wong, Eilish Henderson, Celeste Laborde, Eric Lichtenstein, Robyn Wong, Zo Roze, Suyi Xu, Ana Gimena Sanchez, Alex Shanahan, River Luna, Rute Ventura, Alaisha Sharma, Alana Rosa, and Stephanie Larriere.
Yazmin Gonzalez began her dance journey at the age of 18, studying Egyptian Classical Belly Dance under the guidance of Maria Jammal. In 2009, she relocated to New York, discovering East Coast Tribal Belly Dance. It is in this community that she embraced the fusion style under the mentorship of Sera Solstice and Zuleika Milan. Driven by a desire to evoke deep emotional exploration through movement, Yazmin was drawn to the New York Butoh Institute, where she immediately connected with the profound focus and intentionality that Butoh offers. She continues to study primarily under Vangeline, while also having the privilege to train with renowned Butoh masters, including Atsushi Takenouchi, Tetsuro Fukuhara, Yumiko Yoshioka, and Joan Laage, among others. In over a decade of artistic exploration, Yazmin has developed a unique movement language blending Middle Eastern dance, improvisational sketching, and Butoh. She made her performance debut at the 2019 New York Butoh Institute Festival and has since presented solo works at the 2023 Ritual Cabaret, the 2023 Queer Butoh Festival, and the 2nd Excavate: Works in Progress series.
In recent years, her focus has expanded to fostering community within the Butoh sphere—directing Vangeline Theater’s participation in the 2025 NYC Dance Parade and joining Cleveland’s women-led dance collective The Birds Who Walk at Night.
Vangeline is a New York–based teacher, choreographer, and dancer specializing in Japanese Butoh. She is the artistic director of Vangeline Theater / New York Butoh Institute and is widely recognized for her rigorous, research-driven approach to Butoh and for expanding the form’s relevance in the 21st century. Her work actively champions diversity and inclusion, creating space for historically underrepresented voices while carrying forward the legacy of Butoh through contemporary research, activism, and performance.
Through her all-female dance company, Vangeline creates socially engaged, innovative choreographic works that unite Butoh with activism. She is the founder of the New York Butoh Institute Festival, dedicated to uplifting women in Butoh, and Queer Butoh, a festival centering LGBTQ+ voices within the form. She is also the visionary behind The Dream a Dream Project, an award-winning program now in its 18th year that brings Butoh into correctional facilities across New York State.
At the heart of Vangeline’s philosophy is the belief that Butoh can serve as a tool for both personal and collective transformation. Her work reflects a deep commitment to integrating the full spectrum of human experience—beauty and darkness alike—while reintegrating voices historically marginalized by society.
Vangeline’s choreography has been presented internationally in Chile, Germany, Italy, France, Finland, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. She is the recipient of a 2026 National Endowment for the Arts Dance Award for her upcoming work Unforgotten: Butoh for 9/11, and a 2022 National Endowment for the Arts Dance Award for The Slowest Wave, a groundbreaking project exploring the intersection of Butoh and neuroscience. Additional honors include a 2022–2023 Gibney Dance in Process Residency, a 2018 NYFA/NYSCA Fellowship in Choreography for Elsewhere, the 2015 Gibney Dance Social Action Award, and the 2019 Janet Arnold Award from the Society of Antiquaries of London. She was recently awarded a prestigious fellowship at Wadham College, University of Oxford, for the 2026–2027 academic year.
Her work has been widely acclaimed both nationally and internationally, with critics praising its power, precision, and emotional resonance. Reviews have appeared in publications including The New York Times (“captivating”) and The Los Angeles Times (“moves with the clockwork deliberation of a practiced Japanese Butoh artist”), to name just a few.
Widely regarded as an authority in her field, Vangeline has taught at Princeton University (Princeton Atelier), Cornell University, NYU, Brooklyn College, CUNY, Sarah Lawrence College, and Duke University. Her work extends into film, including a starring role opposite James Franco and Winona Ryder in Jay Anania’s feature film The Letter (Lionsgate, 2012). She has also been commissioned by Grammy Award–winning artists Esperanza Spalding, Skrillex, and David J. (Bauhaus).
Vangeline is also the author of the critically acclaimed book Butoh: Cradling Empty Space, which examines the relationship between Butoh and neuroscience. She led the first-ever scientific study measuring the effects of Butoh on the brain (The Slowest Wave). Her work has been featured on CNN’s Great Big Story (“Learning to Dance with Your Demons”), the BBC’s Deeply Human podcast with Dessa, and in her own podcast, Butoh Musing with Vangeline.
She is currently developing MAN WOMAN, in collaboration with Machine Dazzle and Ray Barragan Sweeten. The work will premiere at the La MaMa Moves Festival (April 18–19, 2026) and at the Schwarzman Centre, University of Oxford (September 16, 2026).
Dancefest in Tompkins Square Park
At the conclusion of the parade in Tompkins Square Park, the public can enjoy a festival featuring performances on two stages, a teaching stage, site-specific works, and a dedicated dance party area with DJs spinning an eclectic mix of genres. Five dedicated dance studios will offer free dance classes from some of New York’s most esteemed instructors. The festival is designed to be an immersive and participatory celebration of dance.
ABOUT DANCE PARADE NEW YORK
Founded in 2006, Dance Parade New York is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing dance as an expressive and unifying art form. It serves the dance community through education, performance opportunities, and artistic collaborations. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the annual Dance Parade and Festival is the organization’s flagship event, celebrating the vast diversity of dance styles and cultural traditions in New York City. Team Dance Parade is thrilled to showcase 50+ styles of dance in Dance Parade Philadelphia's Inaugural event September 13, 2025.
VANGELINE THEATER/ NEW YORK BUTOH INSTITUTE aims to preserve the legacy and integrity of Japanese Butoh while carrying the art form into the future, with a special emphasis on education, social justice, research, and archiving. For more info, visit: www.vangeline.com Vangeline Theater programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. www.vangeline.com