TEACHING
The Dreaming Body
Butoh Dance Classes
My classes spring from my Butoh training and my own life path and aesthetics. In them I offer a set of keys to the Embodied Imagination which is flowing through us always – even if we’ve been conditioned to ignore it. This is not the imagination that’s ‘all in our heads’ but the one that emerges from the body and takes our whole being with it.
Butoh is an immersive dance form originating from Japan and dubbed the Dance of Darkness (Ankoku Butō). In my reading this Darkness means that which is outside our normal awareness but dwells in and around our bodies: hidden material, dark desires, the speech of the body itself when the mind is quietened. This can be conventionally ugly or twisted, but equally it can be an explosion of beauty and light – the subconscious emerging through the flesh. The wider Earth and our interdependence with all life becomes clearer, the body expands beyond the skin, spirits and ancestors (human and not) rise up. Everything is welcomed and danced.
No prior experience is necessary. You do not need to consider yourself a dancer: my opinion is that our bodymind is already dreaming anyway (most often the grey dream of capitalism), so what we are doing is learning to access other, more colourful dreams and dance into them. It is not always a rational activity, nor is it anti-rational. We are made of star stuff, full of the ocean, related to stones and moss, connected to everything. Dance is a way to experience this and to transform our state of being. It’s deep but also fun.
My classes function as a ritual container: a place to empty ourselves of our habits and social conditioning, flower into something stranger, and then come back safely before re-entering society after the class. I’m keen to welcome those of all body types, abilities and needs, and I’m here to support in any way I can. Though I am not a therapist, I strive to take care of everyone’s journey through the class and am on hand to discuss physical and emotional challenges. Please message me in advance or grab a word with me at the beginning of class if you have particular concerns.
My Butoh Connection
As of 2026 I have trained and performed with many of the most respected Butoh masters in Europe and Japan, including: Yoshito Ohno, Yukio Waguri, Masaki Iwana, Kayo Mikami, Seisaku & Yuri, Atsushi Takenouche, Tadashi Endo, Yumiko Yoshioka, Imre Thormann, Moe Yamamoto, Yuko Kaseki and Gyohei Zaitsu. My own Butoh dance work has been performed on stages, outdoors, and in more unusual venues around the world. In 2025 I completed a PhD exploring Butoh as a way of unlocking experiences of ecological selfhood in resistance to the atomisation of late capitalism. These classes are a synthesis of this training and experience with my own private research.
Testimonials from participants
• I have found Paul Michael Henry through researching Butoh for a while. I first encountered the dance in Berlin and was fascinated by the scope for expression of normally taboo movements and expressions. I find the dance highly interesting and outspoken about “forbidden” topics that I like to concern myself with in my art practice. The workshop is highly stimulating and liberating, especially if one carries blockades and emotional baggage; at the same time it is structured in a way in which I can find artistic satisfaction for it is comprised intelligently, giving scope for individual stimulation and inspiration. I like how all levels are welcome and how the individuals in the room bounce off each other. Having done dance before, I can use stereotypical movements and shapes, questioning, developing and interpreting them anew. We are being taught new ways of thinking about our carnal and bodily experiences – clearly a sign of Michael’s competence in the field of leading a group systematically- but there is also room for already pre-existing experiences and ways of expression, which are not being classified or judged, but have the right to be implemented in performance and visual practice. The balance between learning something new and building upon prior knowledge is exactly right; there is no hierarchy and domination of master and apprentice, but everyone is treated as a person already capable of dance and movement.
I very much enjoy the workshops that are being held at CCA by Michael for they show how humble and professional a teacher they are and to what extent they truly understand the principles of Butoh and artistic practice. One can use the monthly appointment to heal, to grow, to question, to paint, to let go or to think with the body instead of against it.
– Darja Abdirova
• Paul Michael Henry’s workshops are an invitation to explore all the subtleties that exist within our psyche, body and our sense of humanity, through butoh. Facilitated with a true respect for the art form, humbleness and intuitive awareness of participants needs, I am grateful to have found such a skilled practitioner. I have been repeatedly returning, thrilled by the opportunity to journey through movement and reach new levels of authenticity, playfulness and healing which extend far beyond each session and can be carried back with me into my daily life. A deeply valuable movement system and skilled facilitator. I highly recommend connecting with these beautiful sessions!
– Jennifer Kettles aka. Jaya Fire, Performance Artist
• I trust Michael’s voice. I strongly feel that I come back to his workshops because he holds a safe space for those willing to fully participate. He provides a space where one can fully participate, because that’s what he knows. He can hold space for the powerful emotions that can rise up, because he knows them, and knows Butoh to be powerful as a practice. He lives what he teaches. I trust Michael’s voice because, as a teacher, they areopen and they are themselves. They have the capacity to let participants own their experience, and can share their learning, their way without demanding that it is THE way.
– Sarah Riseborough