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Kokoro Dance writes 30th anniversary love letter

“The book of love is long and boring.” It’s not the first sentiment that comes to mind when thinking about love, but those lyrics ( sung by Peter Gabriel covering a song by the Magnetic Fields) were truth enough to inspire Barbara Bourget.
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Kokoro Dance co-founder Jay Hirabayashi (centre) with the Standing Wave music ensemble in 'Book of Love', on now until Dec. 5 at the Roundhouse Performance Centre.

 

“The book of love is long and boring.”

It’s not the first sentiment that comes to mind when thinking about love, but those lyrics (sung by Peter Gabriel covering a song by the Magnetic Fields) were truth enough to inspire Barbara Bourget.

“It just intrigued me – it was funny, it was poignant, and so true – and it spoke a certain kind of truth to me,” says the smiling Kokoro Dance co-founder, seated at a coffee shop near Cambie.

In fact, rock music and the myriad perspectives on love therein served as the entire inspiration for the 30th anniversary show, Book of Love – now beginning its two week run at the Roundhouse Performance Centre.

“There’s something about the world now,” the 65-year-old Bourget explains, thoughtfully, “that I just want to keep reminding people about love. Because really that’s all there is. Love is sometimes romantic, sometimes brutal, sometimes scary… it has a huge palette of experience within it.”

Knowing the white-painted – occasionally naked – butoh-driven boldness of Kokoro, though, Book of Love won’t be some cliché-laden pas de deux. Flanked by fellow dancers Molly McDermott and Billy Marchenski, backed by original music by former VSO composer-in-residence Jeffrey Ryan (as performed by the venerable Standing Wave music ensemble) and in costumes by sculptural British artist Jonathan Baldock, Book of Love will be a visceral exploration of human relationships.

“That’s the essential thing we always work with,” Bourget explains, speaking as well for her husband and partner, Jay Hirabayashi. “Human relationships and creating something that’s larger than ourselves but includes ourselves, and touches other people.”

It will also be a reflection of the love the couple has poured into Vancouver’s arts community over the past three decades.

In addition to standalone works like Book of Love, Kokoro also programs the world-renowned Vancouver International Dance Festival (VIDF), produces the iconic annual Wreck Beach Butoh series and has trained hundreds of dancers over the years. Bourget and Hirabayashi have also had a hand in nurturing local dance companies such as 605 Collective, events such as the Powell Street Festival, and organizations like the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra through financial support or collaboration.

Most significantly though, Book of Love comes at a time when Kokoro is actually fortifying its roots in the arts community. The company is about to embark on renovations to the former W2 café and media arts space in the Woodward’s Heritage Building in Gastown to convert it into a new dance studio, and community creation and rehearsal space.

“It’s going to be a resource for the arts community in Vancouver,“ Bourget begins, passionately. “It’s also really going to be a wonderful thing for the Downtown Eastside. We really want to support all the artists in that area of the city for whom it’s even more difficult without the kind of resources that other artists have, to be able to work on their work in an environment that has the things one needs.”

Bourget didn’t believe they would be granted the space by the City of Vancouver when Hirabayashi first applied. Ultimately, however, in October of 2014 their society was recommended by City staff as the lead not-for-profit tenant in the space.

They moved in last December, fulfilling a 28-year dream and proving, cliché as it is, that a little love goes a long way. 

• Book of Love is on now until Dec. 5 at the Roundhouse Performance Centre (181 Roundhouse Mews) with a special 30th anniversary dinner and performance on Dec. 5 at 5pm. Tickets from $25; Kokoro.ca.