Spontaneous Performance Procession

Mar 20, 2025

First developed by the Italian Butoh artist Alessia Mallardo, the original idea was for a group to jog into the hills with the purpose of provoking site-specific butoh performances. At any moment anybody (due to resonance) could stop and perform for 1 minute anywhere along the way and the others would then stop to witness as the audience. When the performance finished, the jog continued.

The Spontaneous Performance Procession (SPP) has since been engaged in various settings, both rural and urban in a few countries.

A group of performers are led by one leader who spontaneously walks or jogs along any path toward various nature locations and/or architecture. At any moment, if one of the participants feels a strong resonance to perform at any given space, they immediately begin performing. The performances can be solo, duet or cobody (group).

During a performance, the other participants will pause and gather as witnesses or audience members. One designated person should give an audible signal—such as a chime, clave strike, whistle, or clap—to alert those in the procession who may not realize a performance is starting. This signaling isn’t necessary if the procession’s structure makes it clear, for example, when everyone is connected by a rope and the act of separating from their carabiners provides a physical cue.

The performance can take anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes. When the performance ends, another participant will take the leader role for the procession. This should be a smooth transition. Gaps of uncertainty within the group are to be avoided. There is no talking during the procession, but abstracted performative voice or talking during a performance is acceptable.

The leader can either walk or jog in a passive way or add a performative element to it, in which case, those following behind have the choice of: (1) following as passive witnesses/audience, (2) performatively mirroring or resonating with the world of the leader or (3) becoming the “behind world.” The behind world is not mirrored or resonated with by anybody in the front because this may take the focus away from the forward action of the procession.

Procession Configurations

The procession itself may carry various formations such as (shown below) a solid line, a purposely scattered line (rock garden configuration), a pyramid, horizontal line, or a circle. There can of course be other configurations.

There can also be varying intervals within the procession that can be applied to various formations. Example intervals applied to the straight line formation (large spaces, small or no spaces, and crescendo/decrescendo spaces.

Common Motifs

There are various motifs that have attracted participants to break out and perform.

These motifs generally center around four viewing spaces (or combination thereof) which have theatrical associations: (1) backdrop (wall); (2) elevated space (platform), (3) depression (amphitheatre, cave); (4) passageway (gate or tunnel).

Common backdrops have included walls, nature scenes, or the horizon. Common elevated spaces have included hills, piles, boulders, stairs, or slanted walls. Common depressions have included various pits found in nature. Common passageways have included dirt roads or canopies of nature.

Very common urban and/or nature scenes of attraction have included: trees, rocks, found props, walls, water, paths (roadway, walkway), fence, string/wire.

Sub-specifics

Though SPP is a site-specific event, within the site can appear other moments that can inspire a spontaneous performance.

  • sound-specific: Any kind of sound can inspire a performance whether it is coming from nature or machine.
  • light-specific: Light and/or shadows of a site can inspire a performance.
  • costume-specific: There may come an occasion where a spontaneous costume can be generated such as with mud, clay, branches or even a bee protection suit in which case a spontaneous performance can be based on the character.
  • color-specific: There might be a site that has a specific color to it that provokes a spontaneous performance.
  • public-specific: There might be one or more people in the surrounding area that inspires performance or even direct participation
  • animal-specific: There might be animals, big or small, that provoke a performance.
  • kinetic-object-specific: There might be animated objects which provoke mimicry or filling of a role such as a falling leaf, e.g. falling to the ground like the leaf or chasing the leaf.

Unspoken License

The use of camera(s) during the SPP not only frames the event as intentional art but also grants performers an unspoken license to embody their roles more fully. The act of documentation signals to passersby that this is a performance, creating a sense of safety and context for both audience and performer. Likewise, costumes can reinforce this boundary.

Observations

SPP can be a useful tool for butoh performances due to: (1) resonance; (2) being present; (3) breaking from past concepts of performance space; (4) group awareness.

Because the individual only performs if strongly inclined due to an external stimulus (resonance), they may better feel and develop a performance ease, a flow. When we resonate strongly with something, we are not trying. We are being done to. The space, in a sense, is performing us. A prominent resonance and/or dissonance can bring out the performativity in anybody, even those who never took a single acting or dance class or never thought of themselves as a performer.

When we are in resonance, we are not in the head. So another way in which SPP is useful is in trusting in the moment instead of relying on preparation and choreography.

The nature of SPP places participants fully in the moment, cultivating a focused, open, and searching state—as if antennas were extending from the body, attuned to sensing the most resonant spaces for performance. A deep curiosity awakens toward every space we traverse. We engage with the world as if seeing it anew, like children encountering it for the first time. Ordinary places become stages. Spaces we may not have previously considered for performance reveal their potential and may invite us to return to them in the future.

The happening breaks the confines of past concepts of performance and performance space. Also, the thrill of not knowing what will happen is part of the allure.

The procession is also structured in such a way that everyone must be present within the group. When the performance ends, for instance, there must be group awareness for a new leader to smoothly surface in order to keep the procession in order.

Future development

  • Music, live or pre-recorded
  • Night version (with torches)
  • Strangers/unknown audience also allowed in the procession. 
  • Uniform costume