Limen Butoh: Kanabasis La Loba

"Kanabasis" combines two concepts: katabasis (descending movement) and anabasis (ascending movement). It is a ritual journey of archetypal figures through the mythical time and space of the Dreaming in search of the lost soul and lost power. The performance is built around the figure of La Loba – the Singing Over the Bones. She is an ancient figure from the myths and folk tales of North America (Mexico and the American desert). She lives in a hidden cave and collects the bones of wild animals, with particular attention to wolf skeletons. When she assembles a complete skeleton, she sings a magical song over it that brings the wolf back to life, and it runs to freedom, transforming into a running woman. The motif of rebirth from bones is a universal archetype in the history of religion and mythology. Bones, as the most enduring part of the body, symbolize immortality, the essence of being, and the seed from which new life can be reborn. The process of collecting bones symbolizes rebirth and reclaiming what has been destroyed or lost within us. As Clarissa Pinkola Estés wrote in the iconic book Women Who Run with the Wolves: La Loba "... sings them a song of rebirth... to sing means to speak with the voice of the soul – on the bone-strewn desert of the soul she directs her breath upon us – transforming us...". The performance will take place as part of the project "Nie-miejsca. Miasto, które oddycha – Butoh jest wszędzie" co-financed by the City of Warsaw. Limen Butoh collective: Sylwia Hanff & Magdalena Jakubów Music: Alexandre Yterce Visual support: Beata Kaczurba October 4, 2026 (Sunday), 5:00 PM Location: forest by the (dried-up) Jezioro Morskie Oko, ul. Stawowa, Warsaw (Dzielnica Wawer, osiedle Aleksandrów)