The Four Directions: A Butoh-Inspired Movement Meditation with Live Music with Maya Kaufmann
Schedule
Sun Jan 25 2026 at 04:00 pm to 06:00 pm
UTC-08:00Location
The Alembic | Berkeley, CA
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Step into a ritualized exploration of movement, presence, and elemental embodiment, held within a living musical landscape. We begin by gathering in a circle to arrive at the threshold — setting intentions, attuning to breath, space, and one another, and opening the field of practice. From there, we ease into gentle stretching and somatic preparation, warming and softening the body so it can listen rather than perform.The practice unfolds as a guided, improvisational movement score through the four directions — East, South, West, and North — each a portal into a distinct energetic realm and a phase of being and becoming. Rooted in Butoh principles, the movement is slow, imagistic, and deeply sensorial, shaped by attention to weight, breath, vibration, and sound. Live music moves in relationship with the dancers, not simply as accompaniment, but as an active presence that stirs, carries, and transforms the body from within.
Together, we explore stillness, spiral, and directional awareness as acts of invocation — pathways into relationship with the body as vessel, the earth as witness, and the unseen as collaborator. We close by returning to the circle, allowing what has moved through us to settle, integrate, and remain. This is a guided, exploratory movement ritual offered with choice and consent at its core; participants are invited to move at their own pace, honor personal boundaries, and take rest as needed. Stillness, witnessing, and non-movement are fully welcome forms of participation.
Maya Kaufmann is a movement artist, educator, and ritualist prayerformer whose work is rooted in the belief that the body is a site of knowledge, devotion, and transformation. Raised by Zen meditation teachers and authors, she grew up immersed in contemplative practice, shaping a movement philosophy grounded in presence, deep listening, and reverence for what emerges through the body. Drawing from modern dance, belly fusion, Butoh, and somatic traditions, her approach honors both form and flow, structure and surrender, inviting movement to arise as inquiry rather than display.
Maya holds a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from UC Berkeley, with concentrations in Dance Practice, Philosophy, and Anthropology, and a minor in Creative Writing. Her thesis, “The Divinity of Dance,” explores how dancers encounter spirituality, liminality, and altered states through embodied practice, and how these experiences cultivate care and compassion. With over a decade of teaching experience, she has guided movement across diverse contexts, including accessible dance for people with disabilities, ecstatic dance facilitation, fusion technique classes, ceremonial movement, and meditation-based somatic work.
Alongside her teaching, Maya performs internationally in ritual and contemporary dance settings, weaving sensuality, shadow, and mythic presence into work that blurs the boundary between altar and stage. Whether onstage or in the studio, her work centers inclusivity, emotional alchemy, and the liberatory potential of dance, conjuring spaces where devotion becomes motion and transformation moves with its own wild grace.
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Where is it happening?
The Alembic, 2820 7th St,Berkeley, California, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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