Date & Time Details: Thursday 11th - Sunday 14th February, 2027
Location: Zen Mountain Monastery
Address: Mt Tremper, NY 12457, USA
Contact: ZMM Registrar
registrar@dharma.net
(845) 688-2228
$400.00 – Program Price (Financial Options available)
$365.00 – *Practicing Member Price (Financial Options available
$300.00 – **MRO Student Price (Financial Options available)
This workshop explores Butoh as a practice of embodied awareness, receptivity, and presence. Drawing from traditional Japanese Butoh, Noguchi Taiso (Noguchi Gymnastics), and contemporary understanding of the nervous system, participants are invited to cultivate a quieter, more receptive way of moving and perceiving.
Rather than emphasizing effort or technique, the workshop investigates what happens when movement arises through listening instead of doing. Participants learn to recognize and soften habitual patterns of muscular tension, allowing the body to move with greater ease, fluidity, and responsiveness.
A central component of the practice is Noguchi Taiso, a Japanese movement practice developed by Michizo Noguchi. Based on the understanding that the body is primarily composed of water, Noguchi Taiso encourages effortless, fluid movement and a relationship with gravity that is cooperative rather than resistant. This approach naturally supports relaxation, adaptability, and sensitivity.
The workshop also explores the relationship between movement and the nervous system. By creating conditions that support the parasympathetic nervous system—the branch associated with rest, restoration, and openness—participants develop greater capacity for presence and embodied attention. Rather than striving toward a particular result, the practice cultivates receptivity to internal sensation, the surrounding environment, and the continuous dialogue between self and world.
Participants will explore:
Principles of receptivity and embodied presence
Foundations of Noguchi Taiso and fluid movement
The relationship between movement, gravity, and effortless action
Awareness of the nervous system and states of relaxation
Stillness, perception, and attentive movement
Butoh as a contemplative and experiential practice
At 7:30pm on Saturday evening, following the retreat, Vangeline will perform a 30 min excerpt of her new solo work, “MAN WOMAN”, which contemplates the feminine through the imagery of nature and metamorphosis. This performance will be free to the general public and include a Q&A with the artist.
As with all in-person retreats at the Monastery, participants are required to follow the current protocol for keeping everyone safe (this link is updated frequently so check back). Review the current protocol requirements before registering, and if you have further questions, please contact the registrar.
Financial concerns should not prevent you from attending a program at the Monastery. If you can’t afford the program fee, you can see these options.
Photo By Michael Blase