Paul Michael Henry

I'm an Irish-Scottish dancer, musician and writer. My work springs from Butoh dance, ritual, and punk rock roots, and my creative output covers live performance, film, music, and writing. I trained and performed with many of the most respected Butoh masters in Europe and Japan, including: Yoshito Ohno, Yukio Waguri, Masaki Iwana, Kayo Mikami, Seisaku & Yuri, Atsushi Takenouchi, Tadashi Endo, Yumiko Yoshioka, Imre Thormann, Moe Yamamoto, and Yuko Kaseki. These days I feel bold enough to take what I've learned and reshape it in my own image, blending it with my music and writing practices. My themes are political, social & spiritual, dealing with love, neglect of the body, destruction of the environment and atrophy of the soul in consumerist society.

My most recent projects are Labyrinth of the Unseen World (a collaboration with French film-maker Amélie Ravalec, premiered at Butohpolis Festival, Warsaw 2025), and BELONG, a solo work in progress exploring nervous system regulation, neurodivergent embodiment, and social-somatic belonging amongst humans and non-humans.

Past projects include SHRIMP DANCE at Frankfurt's Winterweft festival and the Edinburgh Fringe (a multimedia dance work exploring the links between anti-depressants, ecological crisis and late capitalism) // Laughter at Being Crushed, a Rumi-inspired solo which toured the United States, Italy Ireland and the U.K // collaborative Butoh performances in France and Japan // and two new dance films, My Whole Face Sort of Fell Off and Excuse Me I Am Expanding. Documentation of all of these is available on my website.

In 2025 I completd a practice-based PhD through Royal Conservatoire of Scotland / University of St. Andrews, researching techniques for shifting our sense of self from Individual-Consumer to Interdependent-Ecological during the Climate and Ecological Emergency. I'm also Artistic Director and creator of UNFIX, an evolving and experimental festival platforming ecologically committed performance, dance, music, film and discussion. UNFIX is intended as a contribution to the waking up of the human species to our predicament in an age of climate change, massive inequality and rampant consumerism. It is based in Glasgow and is ongoing here and in New York City, Bologna, and Tokyo.

I teach regular Butoh dance workshops called The Dreaming Body in Glasgow and elsewhere.

“Utterly compelling, the astonishingly talented Henry has much to say¨ - Glasgow Theatre Blog

“A singular talent of grace and power" – Lorna Irvine (reviewer for the List and Exuent)

“Henry attacks the challenge of moving with uncompromising intention with rigour." **** - the Skinny

“Paul Michael Henry is a disciplined, creative and unique performer to Scotland and I have not seen his like in Europe in fact.“ – Morag Deyes (Artistic Director, Dance Base Edinburgh)