I'm organizing with Sayoko Onishi this Afro-Butoh workshop conducted by South African choreographer Tebby W.T. RAMASIKE for New Butoh School  at Officine Ouragan in Palermo, more info about the school on http://www.butoh.it
19-20 Marzo 2011 AFRO-BUTOH WORKSHOP:Dance Initiation “SKIN......LIFE......SOUL!”
with South African choreographer
Tebby W.T. RAMASIKE
Workshop info and subscription: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it / +393270135988 / +393299727736 / http://www.butoh.it
Tebby W.T. RAMASIKE (short biography):
South African-born choreographer, dance teacher, dancer/performer, cultural activist and former actor and ramp & photographic model, came to Europe in 1995 to study, live and work in The Netherlands and internationally, after working professionally in several theatre and dance companies in South Africa and abroad. In 1999, after establishing himself as a dancer, choreographer and teacher in Europe, he started his own dance company, TeBogO danceensemble (TBO) – now renamed TeBogO Dance - TBO, which has since its inauguration has performed extensively in Europe and abroad, in countries such as Japan, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, South Africa, Poland and Luxembourg, to mention but a few. He became a member World Dance Alliance –Europe (WDA) in 2002 and is currently an official member of UNESCO’s International Dance Council (CID).Amongst his many choreographic and dance achievements, he won the SASAD Dance Festival Most Outstanding Male Dancer & Best Dance,
Best Choreography Awards, AA Vita Life/Fringe Award, FNB Group Fringe Award, to mention but a few and has been a finalist in many other prestigious International Ballet & Modern Dance competitions as well as Choreography Concours. In 1995 he was the first South African recipient of the International Choreography Scholarship from the Michel Tesson Performing Arts Trust in South Africa, in 1996 he was awarded a study grant by South Africa’s Creative Arts Foundation. In 2002 he was granted an opportunity by the Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst, for a 'choreografie opdracht', in which he invited Japanese Butoh performer, Sayoko Onishi to collaborate with him. This work led him to his major choreographic research in 2002 pursuing a Master Degree course, hence graduating with an MA degree in Choreography from the Dance Unlimited Programme (2004) in The Netherlands, his research is based on “The spiritual body as a tool of communication in aglobal society – which has its focus on an artistic venture into developing ‘new’ cultural meanings by a cross-pollination of dance idioms and semiotics”. In 2007 he was invited at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, for the workshop/symposium, "Shifting Centres - artistic positions and recent dynamic in contemporary art with focus on dance,performance and music in Africa.”, where his documented research project, "The Spiritual
Body asa Tool of Communication in a Global Society”, was read. As a dance teacher he has taught and continues to teach both nationally and internationally (both independently and as a guest teacher), in countries like Japan, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, USA, South Africa.  As a dancer/performer, Tebby, trained in many different dance styles, has worked with dance teachers/practitioners and choreographers such as Dianne Richards, Robyn Orlin, Nomsa Manaka, Paola Sendoucass, Sonje Mayo, Pam Randall-Gandy, Germaine Acogny, Benoît La  Chambrè, Atsushi Takenouchi, Sayoko Onishi, Yoshito Ohno, Carlotta Ikeda, Mary O’Donnell, Jõao da Silva, Lisa Kraus, David Krugel, Shusaku Takeuchi, Carly Dibakoane, Eva Karczag, Dr. Bertram Muller, Wincky Hoedt, Elsa Wolliaston, to mention but a few, and has worked closely with Henriette Verburgh, as his mentor, artistic advisor and lecturer. As a choreographer, he has collaborated with several choreographers, designers and musicians in his dance works. *In September 2009 he took an initiative to invite and collaborate with Portuguese choreographer and performer, Cristina Benedita, at an Artists' Residency in Noèpoli, Italy, www.palazzorinaldi.com , where they researched and presented “Song Of The Earth” under the work title “THE UNTOLD STORY”. *In March 2010 he invited and collaborated with French musician/composer/percussionist, Fabrice Richard in his 'personal signature' project, “The Soul Of Afrika: A Homage To My Ancestors”. *In June 2010 he continued his collaboration with Sayoko Onishi, whom they collaborated with since 2002, in their concept of the “Afro-Butoh” hence the “New Butoh” (conceptualized by Sayoko Onishi in association with Master Yoshito Ohno), in their ongoing spiritual journey project of “The Animal Inside Cultures”. Tebby, as a cultural activist and dance educationist, is available to extend his teaching dance classes and workshops not only to professionals but to the general community, as well as to perform and choreograph for individuals and groups. He is also available for bringing dance to schools, in which he introduces dance to normal school-going pupils as an extra curricula, in this sense also creating educational dance projects, as well as youth and community-based dance programmes.
©Tebby W.T. Ramasike /TeBogO Dance -TBO / 2011