11/11 Ritual Performance with Spawning Salmon

For the past 3 years, journeys to make butoh offerings honoring spawning salmon at Mile 11 had very little prior preparation. I sent out a "call" to anyone who felt drawn to join, we grabbed some costumes & a camera and headed out. Often the going was tough to just make it there through the landslides, wind storms, power outages, ferry cancellations and so on but we had the salmon's endurance to inspire us and the results were amazing each time. This 4th year, because I have been working with an indigenous spiritual leader who teaches of the incredible power and value of intention and preparation when embarking on ritual and prayer, I began studies, prayers and preparation for this 11/11 journey months in advance.

Most all the members that I coach at a distance through skype (in Virginia, Toronto, Boulder, New York) agreed to gathering in person at Mile 11 so that we could all participate in an event together at least once this year. I began research about indigenous tales of salmon/human relationships locally and all around the Pacific Rim. Amazingly, I happened upon a book packed with stories, images and inspiration that would become like a "script" for our process called First Fish First People: Salmon Tales of the North Pacific Rim. We met at the studio and created the performance score, self-portraits, costumes and ritual offerings during the days prior. It was a huge logistical feat, not to mention the depths we were touching creatively, emotionally and spiritually by gathering in this way.

We were blessed that two talented and soulful musician/singers; Loraine Bays and Deborah Koff-Chapin felt called to play and sing during the journey. It was a complex and lengthly score that spanned from gathering for ceremonial clearing/costuming; continued with offering the prayer boats to the jumping salmon at 11:11 am; dancing non stop through the entire life/death cycle of salmon; till our conclusion with a swim in the sound at 1:11 pm; and followed by a great potluck feast at the graces of our host Susan who lives on this sacred site.

Thanks to photographer/videographer/witnesses; we can now share some glimpses into our trans-body experience. As you bear witness, I suggest you open your mind/heart to remember this is not about the dance form or style. Rather, it is about authentic & unabashed prayer offering from our hearts and souls through our flesh and our exchanges with one another, the land and all beings present there. We are so grateful for this opportunity to pay attention to the grace here and humbly restore this precious salmon habitat to a thriving HOME for mating, dying, birthing and perpetual return.

11/11 Initial Offering

More films to come soon....there are 11 in all, of course.

Thank you for witnessing and offering your comments.

11/11 Spawning Upstream

11/11 A Witness Reflects

There were many non-human witnesses at our ritual butoh pilgrimage on 11/11. Here is one reflection from a human one:

I came to the ll-ll event as witness, with only a conceptual awareness of its messages & form. These are fragments of my reflections.

The experience was both moving & a visual feast. The dancers proved a valuable bridge to connect me with the salmons efforts & experiences. The gauze masked faces removed the distraction of the dancers humanity, rendering them more as salmon spirits.

The wriggling travel prone to the ground gave tangibility to the difficulty of the salmons journey home. The presence of the roadway reminded me of the dams & obsticals our species places befor them.

In the forest I stood with the dance on my left & the stream with salmon struggling on my right. This was a profound moment as I seemed to stand in two worlds and belong to both at once.

The frenzy of the spawning ground & final death was a sobering time emphisized by Debra's contributions. Death at the end of such struggle, with the gains of the spring rebirth remote, seemed a sad waste of such effort.

JOY! BIRTH! INFANT HOOD ! GROWTH ! STRENGTH! BEAUTIFUL LIFE!

The awakening dance said all! To be a child again!

Arrival at the burn site & homage to its meaning was very moving. I felt sorrow & shame for the dark shroud our species casts over all other life forms, over the salmon.

Thru-out the dance the presence of salmon & eagle acted as exclaimation points to the dance.

Return to the sea was especially impactful as Momo closed the silver skin around her & sank into the water, seeming to become salmon & sea, the beginning of lifes journey into the open world to continue the ageless dance again.

Thankyou All !!

John Lorette

11/11 a life changing experience

November 11, 2o10 changed my life. Before I danced alone. On 11/11 I danced in community. Here is a peek into my journal from the week I traveled from Toronto to the Pacific Northwest to honor the Salmon with the MomoButoh Dance Company.

Cycle of Life & Death: 11/11 Ritual Pilgrimage

It is time to initiate a new cycle of life with the MomoButoh Dance Company. Our new group blog at MomoButoh.net, co-created & authored by our "Inner Circle" of member/practitioners is the external blossoming of a deep rooted and long developing inner practice. With the guidance and facilitation of Artistic Director, Maureen "momo" Freehill, this company grew from the hearts, bodies and souls of a committed group of individual artists. In the tradition of Maureen's long time sensei (mentor) Kazuo Ohno, each of us seeks to engage in soulful creativity, communication and transformation through our butoh dance offerings to the world. We have vowed to intimately unite our butoh dance practices with all aspects of our cycles of daily life & death. We hope you will subscribe to this blog as a gateway into our thriving community and consider diving in and becoming an active member yourself. We invite you to join our ongoing projects, training, performances and activism that enrich our lives and world with the good, true and beautiful. Feel free to contact Maureen "momo" anytime for a free introductory MomoButoh Dance session (in person, by phone or skype) to explore whether this might be the appropriate co-creative path for you.

The cycle of Life/Death is unmistakable when intermingling with spawning salmon. This is why MomoButoh engages in our annual ritual butoh pilgrimage to dance for and with the spawning salmon at Mile 11 on Highway 11 on 11/11 @ 11:11. For the past 4 years, MomoButoh Dance Company has spent most of 11/11 on a grueling journey of spawning, death and rebirth at Oyster Creek. In past years we braved storms, road closures, landslides, ferry cancellations, equipment failure and more to share our dance here. The event featured a 2 hour butoh dance ritual performance with 6 dancers and two musicians offering prayers, dances, stories and songs to the non-human beings of this sacred site. MomoButoh Dance Company Inner Circle members arrived from all four directions with participants from Toronto, Virginia, Colorado and British Colombia joining our local Washington State contingent from Seattle, Bellingham, Bellevue, Port Townsend and Whidbey Island. We were especially happy to be visited by salmon leaping with us along the shoreline as bald eagles and crows swooped all round our swimming bodies. We feel blessed by this opportunity to continue the Oyster Creek/Mile 11 Salmon Habitat Restoration Project. We were so grateful for the hospitality of our host who's home rests cozily at this powerful intersection of road, creek, shoreline and railroad--a crossroads of the living, mating, dying and birthing that provides a nourishing foundation for us all.

Thank you for taking time to be with us here; to witness and explore this journey. We hope you enjoy these reflections through photo, video and word about our experience this time around. Please help our process by leaving your own reflections and aesthetic response, this butoh ritual/rite of passage cycle is not complete until the offering is received by our greater community--that is you.