Performance by Kazuko Shiraishi

Description:

Western Front presented an evening of improvisation across poetry, music, and dance with Japanese avant-garde poet Kazuko Shiraishi. 

Diane Kadota of the Powell Street Festival Society introduced the evening before Shiraishi performed a selection of poems in both Japanese and English. Reading from a long metallic scroll, Shiraishi was accompanied by jazz musicians Ross Barrett (tenor saxophone, keyboard) and Al Wirtz (drums), creating a dynamic interplay of text and sound. She was also joined onstage by dancer Jay Hirabayashi of Kokoro Dance Theatre Society, who responded to Shiraishi’s poems through butoh-inspired movement. 

Presented in partnership with the Powell Street Festival Society, Vancouver Writers Festival, The Dance Centre, and the Japan Foundation.

Video documentation is available upon request.