Kokoro Dance Classes
Kokoro Dance trains dancers through classes at KW Studios located in the Woodward’s Heritage Building in downtown Vancouver (111 West Hastings Street). Our classes build strength, flexibility, and stamina, as well as developing technical and performance skills.
Whether you are a beginner or a professional, our classes are on-going research in stretching time and space, understanding form and deviation, using poetic imagery to inform movement, whether through choreography or improvisation. We teach dynamic contemporary dance informed by butoh and ballet.
Fees / Registration Info
Drop in: $15.00
Ten Class Pass: $100.00
We encourage that you register in advance as space is limited. Please select from the options below. For advance registration we accept credit card online. If you wish to pay via eTransfer, please contact us via our contact form and indicate which classes and dates you wish to attend.
For the Ten Class Pass, purchase the pass first then select your classes below and enter your email or code to keep track!
Drop-ins are welcome provided there is space,
and we accept cash, cheque, debit and credit in person.
Barbara Bourget
Barbara Bourget, photo by Yukiko Onley
Her butoh studies have primarily been with Koichi and Hiroko Tamano, Natsu Nakajima, Yumiko Yoshioka, and Akaji Maro, as well as workshops in Germany, Japan, and San Francisco.
Barbara's classes merge elements of butoh and ballet and include improvisation and choreography from over 180 dance works that she has created. Dance critic Max Wyman wrote that Barbara danced with her heart on her sleeve and her body on red-alert. Her classes develop a rigorous attention to the art of dance.
Jay Hirabayashi
Jay Hirabayashi, photo by Chris Randle
Jay performed briefly with Mountain Dance before becoming an inaugural member of the Karen Jamieson Dance Company in 1982 while also forming EDAM with Barbara, Peter Bingham, Ahmed Hassan, Lola MacLaughlin, Jennifer Mascall, and Peter (now Lola) Ryan.
In 1986, Barbara and Jay formed Kokoro Dance with the intention of pursuing butoh as their primary dance aesthetic. Jay has been teaching dance for the past 30 years and has choreographed over 80 dance works. A former downhill ski racer competing in the United States and Canada and as a member of the University of Alberta ski team, Jay's classes begin with a warmup influenced by his athletic background in strength and stamina exercises and follows with transmission of 40 years of butoh research.
Salome Nieto
Salomé Nieto, photo by Donna Hagerman
With an emphasis on sensation, use of imagery, and the articulation of body and space, Salomé's class is influenced by her experience with butoh and modern dance techniques. The class begins with a physical warm-up, followed by technical work, and the exploration of movement sequences. It has an added focus on improvisation and introspective work, offering a deeper understanding of movement and self-expression.