Megan O’Hare is a Sunshine Coast-based performer, educator, and producer working primarily with D.I.V.E. Theatre Collective, and building a personal practice in Butoh. Her practice is rooted in the belief that theatre is a tool for social action. With D.I.V.E., she collaboratively creates work that unsettles, provokes, and resists easy resolution,
unlocking the transformative potential of performance for both artist and audience.
The Project. Megan is raising funds to support her ongoing professional development as a performer, with a current focus on a month-long Butoh intensive in Muğla, Türkiye. This is a rare opportunity to train under practitioners with direct lineage to the form’s founders. The programme delivers 25 hours of structured training a week. Each week is led by a different master and ends with a self-devised solo performance, so the month is as much about making new work as it is about technique. Megan will participate in an additional mentorship during this time. This project builds on a previous RADF-funded Butoh trip to Japan. She incorporated these learnings into a D.I.V.E. production as part of an artist-in-residence program with 60 high school students in Hong Kong. This fund supports Megans ongoing professional development. As opportunities evolve, contributions will continue to be directed toward training, residencies, and practice development in Australia and internationally.
Why Donate? Butoh is one of the most powerful and underrepresented forms in contemporary performance: it is a practice rooted in transformation and extremity. Butoh has traditionally been taught through immersion and extended study, not short courses; examples include Butoh co-founder Tatsumi Hijikata’s Asbestos-Kan, and Min Tanaka’s Body Weather farm. This type of study is rare and unavailable in the region. Additionally, Megan is currently the only D.I.V.E. member with dedicated Butoh training, so everything she learns feeds directly back not only to herself, but into the company, and into public workshops she will run for the wider Sunshine Coast arts community. Lastly, this programme also represents a pivotal moment in Megan’s development as an independent artist. Alongside her work with D.I.V.E., she is beginning to build her own solo practice, and this residency is where that work begins.
How will your donation be used? Your donation directly supports the professional development of an emerging regional artist. Funds will cover the programme fee, international flights, and travel insurance. Any surplus will go toward continued professional development opportunities in Australia and abroad, as Megan deepens her practice
and builds toward independent work.
For more information on the Butoh intensive, please visit https://mugla.shadowbody.com
For more information on Megan, please visit https://meganohare.com
For more information on D.I.V.E. Theatre Collective, please visit https://divetheatre.com
How to Donate:
Choose your amount using the details below, and help Megan share the incredible artform of Butoh with the Sunshine Coast.