- Where in modern life can we be accepted

by others, in all of our facets?

The beautiful and the ugly.

The comfortable and the uncomfortable.

How do we open that Pandora's box?

And dance with it?

My name is Vangeline, and I am a Butoh artist.

Butoh is an art form that was born in Japan in the 1950s,

now it is a global art form.

For me, Butoh is the dance of darkness.

The dance of the subconscious.

I think that body and mind and spirit

are completely connected.

When we access the body through repetition

there is a part of the mind that surrenders

and we begin to access emotions.

There is no Homo erectus anymore.

Butoh training is really, really, really challenging.

To be pushed to the limit, to that extent,

and encouraged to have an encounter with the self

is not an easy endeavor.

But it's a particularly acute challenge

for people who are incarcerated.

I started my work in correctional facilities

with Butoh in 2006.

Ah, yeah, nice.

The classes at Edgecombe are very powerful,

they're also a process.

And in the correctional facilities

it's a very volatile environment.

My agenda is to start from blank slate.

It's not my place to judge them.

It's my place to provide a space

of self-acceptance for them.

A place for rehabilitation.

Once they connect to the sense of empowerment,

that's a very important concept for people

who are incarcerated.

Self-knowledge, self-power.

How can I be in control of my body

that is essentially being controlled by the states?

The ones that keep coming back and repeat,

and believe in the repetition and

start on a path of commitment,

achieve great results.

It's a dance full of guts.

It's a dance full of soul.

It's magic.