Vancouver butoh dancers Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi to be inducted into Canadian dance hall of fame

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      The Georgia Straight received the following bulletin from Dance Collection Danse. It is reprinted below.

      The 2022  Dance Collection Danse Hall of Fame, presented by Dance Collection Danse, is proud to announce the 2022 Inductees of notable contributors to dance from across the country.

      Now in its fourth year, the DCD Hall of Fame will honour and celebrate dynamic lifelong contributions to dance in Canada with a ceremony on Sunday, October 2, at the Palais Royale in Toronto.

      The 2022 DCD Hall of Fame live induction ceremony, hosted by singer/songwriter Micah Barnes, will also be live-streamed. The evening will include fabulous live performances by elite dancers, remarks from illustrious presenters and inductees, food and cocktail service, as well as a silent auction.

      The 2022 DCD Hall of Fame Inductees:

      ● Evelyn Hart, C.C., O.M., F.R.S.C.

      ● Paul-André Fortier, O.C., O.Q.

      ● Alejandro Ronceria

      ● Robert Desrosiers

      Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi of Kokoro Dance

      ● Vicki Adams Willis, Michèle Moss, and Hannah Stilwell of Decidedly Jazz Danceworks

       

      Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi
      Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi are contributors to the development of modern and postmodern dance in Vancouver and have made a significant contribution to the introduction and practice of butoh in Canada.

      They were cofounders of EDAM (Experimental Dance and Music) in 1982, then formed Kokoro Dance in 1986. Taking its name from the Japanese word kokoro—meaning heart, soul, and spirit—Kokoro Dance has presented over a thousand performances across Canada, the United States, South America, Mexico, Europe, and Japan.

      Bourget and Hirabayashi produce the annual Vancouver International Dance Festival featuring local, national, and international dance artists in performances and workshops. They have built a significant repertoire for Kokoro, often co-choreographing and melding the aesthetics and philosophies of butoh with western dance forms.

      Kokoro’s Rage brought attention to the shameful issue of Japanese internment in Canada’s history. Kokoro continues to offer classes in both western modern dance and in butoh aesthetics at their studio in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

      Jay received the Canada Council for the Arts Jacqueline Lemieux Prize in 1994 along with a grant to study butoh in Japan. Barbara holds a master of fine arts degree from Simon Fraser University and received the City of Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award in Dance in 2011.

       

      The 2022 DCD Hall of Fame award Recipients

      William J. S. Boyle Dance Luminary Award (The William J. S. Boyle Dance Luminary Award recognizes a contributor to the dance community that is not a performer or choreographer.)

      David Y. H. Lui, C.M.

      Community Builder (Community Builder is awarded to philanthropists who have demonstrated ongoing support.)

      The Honourable Margaret McCain, C.C., O.N.B.

      Sandra Faire Next Generation Award (The Sandra Faire Next Generation Award honours an artist under the age of 40 who has made a significant impact.)

      Rhodnie Désir

      Trailblazers (Celebrating Canadian dancers who were pioneers at the forefront of the art form.)

      Alison Sutcliffe, Kay Armstrong, and the Galway Sisters from St. John’s, NL

      Dance Collection Danse (DCD) is the national, Toronto-based, non-profit charitable organization dedicated to Canadian dance history. DCD has achieved a worldwide reputation as a pioneer in the collection, preservation, and dissemination of Canada’s dance legacies. DCD collects dance-related material as represented by text-based documents, moving and still images, 3-dimensional objects, and other artifacts and memorabilia. The Dance Collection Danse Hall of Fame (formerly the Encore! Dance Hall of Fame) was designed with the guidance of a launch committee of digital, arts, and event industry leaders. 

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