John Jasperse Open Rehearsal at Topaz Arts

TOPAZ ARTS is pleased to host renowned choreographer John Jasperse for an informal showing of a new work. The choreographer will be inviting the public into his current process in an open rehearsal, followed by discussion with Jasperse and dancers Simon Courchel and Stuart Singer. See the new work-in-progress before it premieres at New York Live Arts in May 2014! “When John Jasperse makes a new work, it should be seen: end of story.” – The New York Times

Open Rehearsal with John Jasperse
Saturday, November 16, 2013, 2-4pm
free admission. please rsvp[at]topazarts.org or on Facebook >
TOPAZ ARTS, 55-03 39th Avenue, Queens > directions

photo by:  Simon Courchel

about the new work:
Everything looks like something.  But apparently you can’t judge a book by its cover.  Despite the interplay and disjunction between essence and appearance, all artistic work uses its perceptual surface (what it looks like, sounds like, feels like, …) as a means of transmission.  The aesthetics of a work of art speak to the value systems of its author(s), which are in turn formed through the construction of such eternally slippery terms as beauty.

From once between is a new evening-length work by Jasperse in collaboration with composer Jonathan Bepler. Over a decade ago, Chris Dohse of Dance Insider referred to the “post-Jasperse style”-presupposing the presence of a “Jasperse” style. If there was (or is) such a style, what are its attributes?  Conversely, what other sensibilities might lay outside that purview or even in apparent opposition to it?  In defining and drawing from both sets, Jasperse seeks both to embrace and to resist the habits of his own history, to create a cross pollination or catalytic mating of sensibilities, where the work emerges out of the space between what seemed to be distinct terrains.

about the artist:
John Jasperse projects is an non-profit production structure supporting the artistic and choreographic work of dance artist John Jasperse.  John Jasperse projects presents live performances of contemporary dance and engages in a broad range of residency activities in the United States and abroad. John Jasperse projects focuses primarily on the development of the new works.  The ongoing focus of the organization and its work is to challenge and engage its audiences in rich and innovative aesthetic and intellectual experiences, thereby expanding the form of contemporary dance and its relevance to the greater culture.

Jasperse has created numerous dance works including 15 evening-length works, presented by festivals and venues internationally. His works have been presented at major venues in NYC including The Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Joyce Theater, New York Live Arts, Danspace Project, The Kitchen and Performance Space 122; throughout the United States including The American Dance Festival, Durham, NC; Museum of Contemporary Arts, Chicago, IL; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, among others; touring throughout Europe and additional international engagements in Brazil, Chile, Israel, Japan and Panama. Jasperse is the 2011 US Artist Brooks Hopkins Fellow and has been awarded many prestigious prizes and fellowships including the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (1992, 1994, 1995-96) and the New York Foundation for the Arts (1988, 1994, 2000, 2010). Jasperse received a 2001 New York Dance and Performance a.k.a. Bessie Award for the body of his work, and John Jasperse Company dancers received a collective Bessie in 2002 for sustained achievement as an ensemble. More info at www.johnjasperse.org >

“From once between” is commissioned by New York Live Arts and is made possible, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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