Kokoro Dance kicks off 2023 Vancouver International Dance Festival with Wabi-Sabi
Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayshi to perform moving duet on opening night
Wabi-Sabi. Photo by Chris Randle
Vancouver International Dance Festival takes place to March 25 at various venues
AS FOUNDERS OF the Vancouver International Dance Festival, Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi admit that organizing the fest’s 23rd year, during the pandemic, was no easy feat. On the eve of the 2023 event, however, they’re pumped about a stellar lineup that includes The Foot on the Edge of the Knife by their “wild and crazy” mad Japanese friend Taketeru Kudo; J’ai pleuré avec les chiens (Time, Creation, Destruction 2021), Daina Ashbee’s anti-colonial group work that was sidelined because of COVID (a co-presentation with the Dance Centre); and the West Coast premiere of Christopher House’s New Tricks. New to the schedule is the pair’s own Wabi-Sabi, a moving Kokoro Dance duet that features music by their son, Jo Hirabayashi. The way Bourget sees things, the fest offers more than compelling artistry from around the world.
“We want to give people hope,” the veteran choreographer-performer-instructor says in a phone interview with Stir. “That’s what artistic practice is all about. It’s this creative part of humanity that is so important to our survival as human beings.
“Artistic practice is vital and strong in Vancouver, in my opinion,” she adds. “We just want to get people into the theatre so we can begin again, this process of artistic practice and of supporting artistic practice.” To sum up her hope for 2023? “Bums in seats!”
VIDF launches with Wabi-Sabi, the Kokoro Dance piece taking the place of Hungarian choreographer Josef Nadj’s Omma (March 2 to 4 at Vancouver Playhouse). The originally scheduled Omma featured eight dancers from Mali, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Congo Brazzaville, and the Democratic Republic of Congo; the show had to be cancelled because of visa issues.
Wabi-Sabi explores the seven aesthetic principles of Zen philosophy: kanso, or simplicity; fukinsei, meaning asymmetry or irregularity; shibumi, beauty in the understated; shizen, naturalness without pretense; yugen, subtle grace; datsuzoku, freeness; and seijaku, or tranquility. “These terms are encompassed in a world view that the Japanese call wabi sabi, the acceptance of transience and imperfection,” Hirabayashi said in an interview with Stir when the piece premiered. (Read the full feature here.)
The duet will be followed by VIDF’s opening night reception at the Vancouver Playhouse.
Also happening this year: the presentation of the $5,000 2023 VIDF Choreographic Award to Dance//Novella co-founders-directors Brandon Lee Alley and Racheal Prince. “We were very impressed by their recent production, When the Walls Come Down, inspired by the life story of deaf artist, Caroline Hébert,” Bourget and HIrabayashi say in a release. “The work featured a performance by Caroline Hébert, Racheal Prince, Brandon Lee Alley, and Anna Belle Hébert [also responsible for storyline creation and development] with choreography by Brandon and Racheal [Brandon also composed the music and Rachael, set and costume design] with lighting design by James Proudfoot. Dance//Novella is an outstanding new Vancouver dance company.”
For the complete VIDF schedule, see here, and stay tuned for additional fest coverage.
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