VIDF executive producer Jay Hirabayashi turns 74 and reflects on his '90s dance manifesto
For more than three decades, the artist has thought outside the box—and today, that means streaming
Jay Hirabayashi, then (in 1995’s White Hot Core, photo by Laurence Svirchev) and now (left, photo by Gabrielle Martin)
AT 74, VANCOUVER International Dance Festival executive producer Jay Hirabayashi continues to think outside the box.
This year marks the first VIDF that will be entirely livestreamed, but Jay has been dreaming of a world where contemporary dance embraces alternative presentation models since 1992, when he wrote the following in the Kokoro Moon:
"We have to find another way to get our dancing to the public and that way is through video. Yes, we will continue to dance live in front of people but we will forego the big expensive theatres and we will do the smaller venues more often. But at the same time we will be dancing in the other more unorthodox locations and video cameras will be recording our movements and we will be developing a distribution network with other cities in North America and Europe and Hong Kong and Japan and we will be selling these tapes to networks for broadcasting."
“We were dreaming of what was possible,” says Hirabayashi today of his words from nearly three decades ago. At that time, the VIDF hadn’t yet been conceived, and Kokoro Dance, directed by himself and Barbara Bourget, was yet to be funded. That it took 29 years before he would play a key role in Vancouver’s livestream dance revolution is indicative of the challenge in garnering the financial resources for parallel presentation streams. With the 2021 VIDF focused on streaming singularly this year, it is an opportunity to put into practice his long-standing vision.
Over his career as a performer, choreographer, and festival producer, audio-visual equipment was not always available, but “unorthodox locations” were much easier to come by and have played a prominent role . At first, Kokoro Dance had dancers who were interested in performing but lacked experience, so “we started performing in public places—without permits, because we didn’t know we needed them!” he recounts.
They soon realized their presence in these spaces would attract public who wouldn’t leave. From Wreck Beach (starting in 1995) to the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery (City on the Edge, 1990), from the Glass Slipper bar downtown to Wazubee Café on Commercial Drive (early ‘90s), from the T-junction of a mine, 150 feet underground in Poland (Brackets, 2005) to a rock-climbing gym in Nanaimo (InFrinGinG Dance Festival, 2003), Hirabayashi’s adaptive approach has facilitated access to truly diverse audiences, chance encounters, and more creative opportunities.
When looking to the future of the VIDF, Hirabayashi plans to continue programming in bigger venues to allow artists the best possible production resources, but will continue to feature those companies there that wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity.
At the same time, live-streaming is here to stay: Hirabayashi aims to program at least one livestream a month going forward. The VIDF may not be “selling tapes to networks for broadcasting” but will be doing its own international broadcasting from KW Studios in Vancouver’s historic Woodward’s Building.
Find out more about the upcoming VIDF livestreams here: www.vidf.ca/shows.
Post sponsored by VIDF.