Photo credit: Rachel Keane
John Jasperse Projects will premiere a new evening-length work that is built around a collection of real-life, intergenerational mentor/protegé relationships that exist within the team of collaborators. This celebration of the arc of life in dance and the generosity of the act of transmission is at the heart of the work. In many ways, dance has often been denigrated through sexism precisely because it is linked to sensorial, intuitive, empathetic, and responsive processes–attributes that are typically thought to be feminine. By centering the voices of women and femmes in this work, we’re also centering and celebrating these ways of being. In the case of these particular performers, there is an indisputable thread connecting back to the post-modern experiments of the 1960s and to Trisha Brown, in particular, with whom both Vicky Shick and Jodi Melnick worked directly, and within whose company, Cynthia Koppe recently performed. Brown’s work was also profoundly inspiring to Jasperse, particularly in his early career. These strands transfer through Melnick and Jasperse to Maria Fleischman and Jace Weyant, both former students of Melnick and Jasperse. As time has passed, these influences have been troubled–some might say corrupted–contradicted, and cross-pollinated with many other influences to form an evolving rhizome of styles. Rather than mourn a loss of purity, the work celebrates this diversity of sensibilities as fundamental to dance as a living, growing art form. It has been the choreographer’s experience that these relationships of mutual support are a crucial underpinning, without which it would be nigh impossible for dance artists to sustain a presence and an artistic life in the field in professional conditions that are, more often than not, extremely challenging. This act of defiance in coming together across generations to support one another–to dance together–in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds is a useful skill that perhaps dance can teach us in this moment.
Choreographer: John Jasperse
Performing Collaborators: Vicky Shick, Jodi Melnick, Cynthia Koppe, Maria
Fleischman, and Jace Weyant
Composer: Hahn Rowe
Lighting Designer: Ben Demarest
Visual and Costume Design: John Jasperse
John Jasperse has been working as a dance artist in New York City since graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in 1985. He founded John Jasperse Company, later renamed John Jasperse Projects, in 1989. This performance marks the 20th evening-length work created by John Jasperse Projects, which has been presented in 26 US cities and 29 countries around the globe. Jasperse has also created multiple commissions and co-productions with leading dance institutions internationally, including Ballett Frankfurt, BAM, Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project, Lyon Opera Ballet, and Batsheva. He is the recipient of a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award, two Bessie awards (2014 and 2001), and multiple fellowships in addition to numerous grants and awards. Jasperse is co-founder of CPR—Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn, NY and is Director of the Dance Program, Sarah Lawrence College (2016-present).
Click here to see list of shows for La MaMa Moves! 20th Anniversary.
La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival continues to support La MaMa’s commitment to presenting diverse performance styles that challenge audience’s perception of dance by featuring performance/installations, experimental film screenings & public symposiums which address dance artists’ engagement with the current political climate, as well as honoring diasporic histories and legacy, ancestral inspirations and inter-generational dialogue.