Vangeline Theater, home of New York Butoh Institute, will present STATES: OBSERVATION, a Butoh Dance Trilogy scheduled to premiere on March 5 – 7, 2026 at 7:30PM at 3AM Theatre, 9-20 35th Avenue, Unit 3N, Astoria, Queens 11106. Tickets start at $16.79 and can be purchased here.

STATES: OBSERVATION: A Butoh Dance Trilogy: Origin, Mutation, and Entropy at Absolute Zero is devised and danced by SCOOP SLONE and presented at 3AM Theatre in association with New York Butoh Institute. This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and the New York Department of Cultural Affairs, and the City Council.

Rooted in quantum physics, STATES: OBSERVATION examines the idea that reality is probabilistic & undefined until observed. The act of observing a particle’s position, or state, changes the particle IT-Self, altering IT’s momentum & creating uncertainty.

The trilogy contemplates the uncertain fluidity & trajectory of the Self through the fragmentation of identity & memory drawing from personal & collective queer narratives & symbolism as related but not limited to aloneism, outsiderism, compartmentalization, survivalism, and chameleonism, evoking a multiplicity of I-positions, or states: with dancer observing IT-Self like an audience member in 3rd person, as both subject & object; as a particle, the smallest fundamental state in the human body, which pops in & out of existence.

These states are informed by a series of conditions specific to each state that change the nature of the Self based upon the observed conditions in the present moment. Yet with time as an entity folded upon IT-Self, past/present/future influence each other simultaneously, with dancers seeking to piece together a Self through these observations mirroring IT-Self back to IT-Self.

A key concept is MA, the Japanese aesthetic of negative space, representing the voids between identity states. MA serves as a bridge in between past & future fragments of the Self, aligning with Zen Buddhist notions of emptiness—not as absence, but as a field of infinite possibility. When the dancer appears to do nothing, IT holds transitional space for IT-Self in between one I-position and the arrival of the next, observing the gap between the conscious & unconscious Self, being led into the next positional state or memory.

I am not a Some Thing because of experience observed. I am because I am IT.

The essence of the 3 works, Origin, Mutation, & Entropy at Absolute Zero, have been sought in the spaces between ideas rather than seeking form through fixed trialed choreography, manifesting IT-Self with improvisation guided by research, narratives, and somatics. They were originally danced guided by vector analyzed site specific staged positions between 2023 and 2025 in NYC Queer Butoh Festival with Vangeline Theatre, Excavate: An NYC Butoh new works in progress festival curated by Scoop, Amsterdam Butoh Festival, & Performatica in Venice, Italy, simultaneous to the 2024 Biennale curated by Hector Canonge. November 2024 a documentary short of Entropy at Absolute Zero by International Butoh Videographer Shimmyo Shuta, was screened at Mana Contemporary hosted by the Jonas Mekas Archives curated by Chihiro Ito. The performance piece was additionally screened at the International Behavioral Art Festival, in Dehradun, India, May 2025.

Further in 2025 the piece underwent a developmental residency at 3AM Theatre bringing all three pieces together for the first time before showing at Kamaitachi Museum in Tashiro, Tohoku, Japan, for the 60th anniversary of the collaboration between Butoh founder Hijikata Tatsumi and photographer Hosoe Eikoh. It was seen in Otaru, Hokkaido, through study with Tanaka Haru, and danced in Aomori, Japan, hosted by Noguchi Taiso Master Osanai Mari. September & October 2026 Scoop will tour a new work in Akita, Kyoto, Tokyo, Otaru, and on the outdoor water stage at Aomori Contemporary Art Center, Japan, with upcoming work in progress presentations in NYC during development.

Sound is designed by Scoop Slone & Jorge Sanders, with live improvisations and manipulations by Jorge Sanders, with supplemental mixing and sound manipulations by Oscar Suh Rodriguez for Mutation. Garmenting costumes and installation by Scoop Slone. Lighting and Production support by Kyle Driggs, Artistic Director 3AM Theatre.

Scoop Slone is an NYC based Butoh performance artist whose creative practice explores individual & collective identity/memory states through the intersection of Butoh, Garmenting, Gender Queer club kid Drag, Installation, & Experimental Music Theatre. Drawing from speculative science fiction, ancient archaeology, folk art, applied science & applied life, Scoop seeks through colloquial avant garde to tangibly transcend spacetime boundaries & realism through altered consciousness & physical states. The performance narrative is set in the primal future past, through Alter Ego, Geometrica 222, an isolated amnesiac being of unknown time & origin questioning, “Who Am I?”.

Jorge Sanders is an electronic musician and sound artist who creates immersive landscapes through sound using spacial dynamics and atmospheres. In Jorge’s collaborations with Scoop, Jorge manipulates recorded audio into a unique textural experience, creating an interplay between space and rhythm.

Kyle Driggs (Co-Creator/producer/performer)is a writer, performer, and designer specializing in a unique fusion of juggling, object manipulation, movement, and theatrical persona. A graduate of École Nationale de Cirque de Montréal, he has performed with renowned companies, including Cirque du Soleil’s Paramour on Broadway and The Big Apple Circus. His work explores the intersection of contemporary circus and physical theatre, blending high technical skill with immersive narratives and experimental stage design. In addition to performing, Kyle is also a lighting, rigging, and set designer, bringing a holistic approach to production that unites visual storytelling, spatial composition, and dynamic stagecraft.

3AM THEATRE is a multidisciplinary performance company that explores the twilight hours, a place in time where perceptions shift and dreams blend with reality. The company blends contemporary circus, modern dance, and physical theatre with kinetic sculpture and innovative lighting design to create original works that encompass both visual art and live performance.

Vangeline Theater is a New York–based butoh dance company and the home of the New York Butoh Institute, a leading center for butoh education, performance, research, and archiving. The organization is dedicated to advancing butoh in the 21st century while honoring its historical, social, and cultural roots.Vangeline Theater/ New York Butoh Institute engages local and international communities through public classes, workshops, festivals, and collaborations with renowned butoh artists. Its work foregrounds social justice, gender equity, and LGBTQI visibility, including the annual New York Butoh

Institute Festival and Queer Butoh. Its award-winning Dream a Dream Project brings butoh dance to incarcerated populations across New York State, contributing to rehabilitation and creative empowerment. All programming is inclusive, accessible, and trauma-informed, reflecting a deep commitment to equity, diversity, and anti-oppressive practice.
This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and the New York Department of Cultural Affairs, and the City Council.