Kokoro Dance's Wreck Beach Butoh series hits three-decade milestone, July 20 and 21
Outdoor performances take place in the nude at Wreck Beach, the culmination of a nine-day workshop hosted by Kokoro cofounders Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi
Kokoro Dance’s 2013 Wreck Beach Butoh performance. Photo by Yvonne Chew
Kokoro Dance presents Wreck Beach Butoh on July 20 at 11:15 am and July 21 at 12 pm at Wreck Beach
EACH SUMMER NOW for the last 30 years, Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi—partners in life and cofounders of Kokoro Dance—have trekked the nearly 400 stairs of the #4 Trail down to Wreck Beach together.
There on the sand, just west of the UBC Museum of Anthropology on Vancouver’s iconic clothing-optional oceanfront strip, is where they host Wreck Beach Butoh. A group of performers strip all their garments, don chalklike white body makeup, and prepare to put on a butoh show unlike any other. Some are trained dancers, while others are new to the discipline, but all are ready to bare their bodies to the elements (and audiences).
The performances are a culmination of a nine-day butoh workshop hosted by Bourget and Hirabayashi at their rehearsal and performance space, KW Studios (located at 111 West Hastings). This year’s workshop began on July 8 and will lead up to two afternoon showcases at the beach on July 20 and 21.
Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi performing at Wreck Beach Butoh.
Performances take place in the nude during low tide, and dancers spend time submerging themselves in the waves and projecting their bodies over the sand as the water slowly rolls in. This time around, they will perform a new movement score learned during rehearsals, which will incorporate methods of changing time and space that are true to the art form of butoh.
Kokoro Dance hosts evocative and memorable year-round programming in Vancouver. Their latest work for the stage, the psychedelic LSD (Love, Sex, and Death), honoured Hirabayashi and Bourget’s 45 years of collaboration in April. But there is nothing in the city quite like the primal Wreck Beach Butoh series, which has reached an impressive three-decade milestone this summer.
Performances (as always) are free to watch, though donations will also be accepted. The show goes on rain or shine. 
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