“Blood and Tears” is the premiere of a 30-minute butoh work collaboratively choreographed and performed by Kokoro Dance’s Co-Artistic Director Barbara Bourget and Associate Artistic Director Salomé Nieto and directed by Jay Hirabayashi with music by Michael Stearns. Using interior poetic imagery to provoke their physical responses, “Blood and Tears” reflects on Barbara’s and Salomé’s shared experiences as female butoh performers over the past 30 years, work embodied with “kokoro” – heart, mind, soul, spirit.  Kokoro Dance was formed in 1986 by Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi. Taking its name from the Japanese word kokoro – meaning heart, soul, and spirit and inspired by the Japanese avantgarde dance form known as butoh, Kokoro Dance has presented over one thousand performances across Canada, in the United States, South America, Mexico, Europe, and Japan. Kokoro Dance’s offices and studios are located in the Woodward’s Heritage Building in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.