March 7 – 29
Vancouver International
Dance Festival
Various Venues
Performers include Kokoro Dance (Vancouver), Michael Sakamoto and Rennie Harris (USA), Guangdong Modern Dance Company (China) and Goh Ballet (Vancouver), Yui Kawaguchi and Aki Takase (Germany), Israel Galván (Spain), Modus Operandi (Vancouver), Dancers Dancing (Vancouver), 605 Collective (Vancouver), 10 Gates Dancing Inc. (Ottawa), Créations Estelle Clareton and Montréal Danse (Montreal) and more.
Details and tickets: www.vidf.ca
About the 2014 VIDF
Each year, before the first performances of the Vancouver International Dance Festival, we find ourselves in a state of anxious excitement. We never know exactly what to expect. Will people come? Will this be our last festival? We let those doubts drop away knowing that we are bringing outstanding artists that have proven themselves again and again in cities around the world. But, we have to be able to adapt quickly when the unexpected happens. A few weeks ago, we got a call from Benoît Lachambre, the artistic director of Par B.L.eux who was to perform the opening shows at the Roundhouse, and who we had picked for the cover photo of our program brochure. He called to say that he had been swimming with dolphins in Hawaii when a big wave threw him against the shoreline rocks, and he had broken his arm, and would be unable to perform. What could we do? Well, we decided we had to dance. So on March 13th, 14th, and 15th, Kokoro Dance will perform one of our favourite pieces that we will be touring to Argentina this coming May. The piece is entitled ( ) to music from the Icelandic rock band Sigur Rós’ 2002 album of the same name. We created this piece in 2003 in a climbing gym in Nanaimo that had a gravel floor. It is about the connection between life and death through the enduring spirit of love, memory, and dreams.
We are bringing back butoh dancer Michael Sakamoto for free shows, March 19th and 20th at the Roundhouse. This time he is performing a duet with hip hop legend Rennie Harris. In 2010, I thought Sakamoto had a unique butoh style that reminded me of the popping movement of hip hop so this meeting of two street-savvy dancers telling us of their origins should not be missed.
We worked this past year with Lee Pui Ming, an outstanding jazz pianist. When we told her we were bringing Aki Takase to the festival March 21st and 22nd with dancer Yui Kawaguchi, she said that Takase inspired her to become a jazz pianist. Kawaguchi and Takase have worked together in Berlin since 2008 combining their respective music and dance talents in conversations that have drawn rave reviews in Germany and Japan.
The 2014 VIDF has many more outstanding performances. Please visit vidf.ca to find out more.
Jay Hirabayashi
