Sharkey’s workshop series offers an intensive and supportive environment for dancers, actors, performers, and creatives from all disciplines seeking to deepen their mind/body practice.

Rooted in the traditions of Butoh masters including Hijikata, Kazuo Ohno, Waguri, Ohtani, Yoshioka, and Endo Sensei, the training draws from practices passed directly through generations of teacher-to-student transmission. Participants will engage with breathwork, meditation, vocal warm-ups, mobility training, and movement improvisation designed to expand the body physically, energetically, and imaginatively.

The workshop integrates Daoyin, a traditional Chinese practice combining breath, concentration, and gentle movement to cultivate Qi, together with Noguchi Taiso (“water body”), Viewpoints training, visual imagery, and poetic improvisational scores. Through explorations of altered timing, distortion, animal forms, shape-shifting, and playful expression, participants will investigate presence, perception, and the body’s relationship to space and time. 

Working individually and collectively, we will cultivate deep listening through all the senses, allowing movement to emerge from subtle internal impulses into authentic physical expression. Reflection practices, including automatic writing, drawing, and informal performance sharings, will support the integration of discoveries into choreographic and creative work. Together, we will deepen awareness, expand movement vocabulary, and transform personal body language through collective exploration and embodied presence.