Butoh started out as a Japanese dance form responding to the devastation of World War II. Since those beginnings, it’s turned its attention to the fundamental qualities of the natural world and the movement possibilities of the human animal. Virtuosity in butoh doesn’t come from strength or speed so much as a willingness to be open, and to work beyond the edge of the conventional world. Artists at the Seattle Butoh Festival will arrive from Sweden (SU-EN) and Japan (Atsushi Takenouchi) as well as local stages (Daipan Butoh), but all are at home in the unknown. SANDRA KURTZ

Oct. 22-28, 8 p.m., 2012