Nicole LeGette, a maverick of Chicago's dance and performance art scene, is the only local artist dedicated to performing, presenting, and teaching butoh; a provocative, rigorous, expressive dance-theater that originated in 1960's Japan. blushing poppy productions was created to encompass these endeavors. Since 2000, Nicole has trained with master butoh artists in Japan, Mexico, Canada, and across the US; and has produced several of these artists in Chicago-based events. Nicole was selected as a Chicago Dancemakers Forum lab artist (2007-2008) and has received numerous grants from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs (2002-2009) and Chicago Seminar on Dance and Performance (2007). Primarily a solo performer, Ms. LeGette’s work has been presented throughout the US. In addition to performing, Nicole organizes workshops and curates events that bring national and international butoh artists to Chicago. Nicole has been independently teaching butoh classes, workshops, and performance ensembles since 2004. The University of Chicago, The School Of The Art Institute Of Chicago, Columbia College Chicago, and Illinois State University (among others) have featured Ms. LeGette’s artistry and teaching. Nicole was an active member (2000-2008) of The Spareroom, Chicago’s only time-arts based artist collective. In addition to butoh-based performance work, Nicole is an accomplished amateur cellist and seasoned yoga instructor.

I consider myself a body theorist and practitioner whose concern is with the greater dilemma we encounter as beings possessing both spirit (energy/invisible) and body (material/visible). I seek to illuminate a culture more responsive to body consciousness and use dance as the most direct means to confront this personal/social/political rebellion. As an artist, my intention is to constantly seek and to reveal the deeper mysteries contained within our cells, secreted within our blood. We are always searching, wanting, and yearning---for what? What are these eternal wanderings? For me, butoh is a way to explore, to question, and to research the unanswerables by using our fullest capacities. As a teacher and curator, my intention is to facilitate greater exposure to and awareness of butoh dance in the Midwest through performances, classes, workshops, and events that support emerging national, and master international butoh artists. These efforts not only enrich the experience of students and audiences, but support the continued global reach of butoh, nurture the blossoming American butoh scene, and introduce questions that provoke deeper consideration about our fundamental dilemma of the body.