'Butoh belongs to life and death. It is a realization of the distance between a human being and the unknown. It also represents man's struggle to overcome the distance between himself and the material world. Butoh dancers' bodies are like a cup filled to overflowing, one which cannot take one more drop of liquid - the body enters a state of perfect balance.

Butoh was conceived in Japan during the 60's as a reaction against the traditional values of western ballet, sought to find an expression through dance and movement for the visible and invisible states of life. Rather than aspiring to an aesthetic ideal, the dance attempts to expose the joys and sorrows of life through the Butoh Spirit, exploring the most fundamental elements of physical and psychological existence.

The aim of the workshop was to develop body awareness and expression through a response to the landscape. This 140 acre site and nearby Mt Arapiles allowed participants to move between bush land, sand dunes, open fields, river and elevated rock, opening up the senses to colour, texture, sound and form.

Over the weekend, the process of charcoal drawing will accompany movement practices, not to produce a pretty picture but to reveal the potential of mark making based on a trust of visual and sensory memory. Here drawing and body work will act as powerful counterpoints and as opportunities to filter one into the other, strengthening the links between the external environment and the internal landscape.

Anthony Pelchen was born in Horsham, studied at the Victorian college of Arts and has exhibited widely in Melbourne and recently in Japan. Moving between painting, drawing and installation, his work is informed by the visceral effect of the landscape space, light and textures and has strong links to the site of this workshop - long held family land where he now lives. Since 1998 he has had ongoing collaborations with Yumi Umiumare and Tony Yap in gallery, church and landscape spaces, including projects in Japan and Denmark. Since 2001 drawing has resurfaced as a major part of his practice, prompted by time living on three major rivers - the Shoalhaven, the Yarra and the Wimmera Rivers.