The New York Times – November 11, 2011 – “Body and Brain Both Stretched To Their Limits” by GIA KOURLAS - IN 1991 John Jasperse presented his first evening-length show, “Eyes Half-Closed,” at Performance Space 122 with no expectation of where it would take him. Now, as he sits in a Midtown cafe 20 years later, his eyes are wide open as he contemplates the longevity of his career in contemporary dance. “That’s a while,” Mr. Jasperse said, not without a little awe, before letting loose a peel of his trademark laughter. “A document of tenacity.”

Talent is one thing, but in dance longevity is the real prize. The only way to keep making work is if people want to see it, and Mr. Jasperse has proven that he is worth watching time and time again. Beginning Wednesday he’s back at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, with “Canyon,” his fourth dance to be shown there since “Giant Empty” in 2001. Certainly that is worthy of a little awe; in recent years only a handful of New York choreographers have been given shots at presenting work at the Brooklyn Academy. But the persevering Mr. Jasperse has risen to the top of his field by choreographing works that test the limits of both brain and body, and live inside austere yet arresting theatrical landscapes.

Despite his success Mr. Jasperse has long spoken about his ambivalence toward dance. “I think people understand that word as being very flippant, but with me it’s very much like I’m simultaneously really committed to it and have a deep problem with it,” he said. “That tension has existed in my work for years.” In other words, movement, in a work by Mr. Jasperse, is created in the service of the piece — whether purposefully awkward or task based — and not for its own sake. The impulse behind “Canyon,” then, is something of a surprise: It’s a return to dancing. And it begins in an unexpected way.

“Well,” Mr. Jasperse said, with a slight moment of hesitation, “we’re jumping. I don’t really jump.”

In experimental dance, classical or virtuosic movement is hardly de rigueur, though it is slowly creeping back. (The most important example is Sarah Michelson, whose recent works “Dover Beach” and “Devotion” were full of meticulous dancing that didn’t give short shrift to the purity of steps.) With “Canyon,” a work for six dancers including the choreographer, a score by Hahn Rowe and visual design by Tony Orrico, Mr. Jasperse said, he is making the kind of work that he needs to make. With a title like “Canyon” he is questioning states of wonderment.

“I’m not particularly interested in Southwest desert, blah, blah, blah,” Mr. Jasperse said. “None of that feels a part of this, but something about majesty and space is. I’m not, you know, into crystals and color therapy, but I do feel like there’s a way in which I can be connected to something bigger.”

And with that, the jumping section, which the dancer Kennis Hawkins likens to “being shot out of a cannon,” is intended to be both unapologetic and bereft of irony. “I know this is going to sound just cheesy, but joy is something that is superproblematic,” Mr. Jasperse said. “I felt interested in: What if we tried some things that feel dangerous?”

It has resulted, at least for Ms. Hawkins, in some of the hardest dancing she’s ever had to do in this, her first appearance with the John Jasperse Company. “In John’s choreography the body kind of trails behind the movement,” Ms. Hawkins said. “In a nutshell it’s a combination of being supertechnical and then also really releasing into the flow of movement — following your way through it.”

In many ways “Canyon” picks up where Mr. Jasperse’s previous work, “Truth, Revised Histories, Wishful Thinking, and Flat Out Lies” left off: with a passage of unapologetic dancing. But, as the title suggests, there are some open sections as well, where stillness and spaciousness — like that found at the bottom of a canyon — take over. Mr. Jasperse is exploring disorientation and fractured states that occur after an outpouring of extreme energy. As the dance continues, he said, “it becomes less and less tangible what the glue is that’s somehow holding us together.”

That also relates to the unusual set design, by Mr. Orrico, the artist and dancer. It is something of a work within a work. Fittingly, his durational drawings are also performances. In 2010 at the former Dance Theater Workshop he presented a series of live drawing as part of “Penwald Drawings.” While standing with his back to the crowd, he drew directly onto the gallery wall with expansive arms to create an intricate labyrinth of black lines.

Mr. Jasperse got to know Mr. Orrico, who has performed with Trisha Brown and Shen Wei, when he replaced a cast member during a tour of “Truth.”

“I love his dancing,” Mr. Jasperse said. “And then when looking at his visual work, I had a really strong feeling about its strength, not only as performative drawings, but the actual work.”

In “Canyon” Mr. Orrico will appear in a disguise of sorts, creating the visual design from inside a white box as it — or he — rolls across the stage on wheels as the others dance. He sees it as confined endurance drawing-taping; he constructs lines using masking tape. “There is this sort of beautiful residual movement from my having to navigate somewhat blindly inside of a box, and so the direction is unclear at times,” he said. “I can backpedal and bounce off of objects. You definitely see that I’m in a predicament. But then there are moments of fluidity when the box gains speed in a wide open space, so it develops this sort of personality and mystery.”

It is, Mr. Orrico said, an uncomfortable fit. (He estimates the box to be about 30 by 40 inches.) Wearing only underwear — it gets hot — he uses a compass, a pocket mirror and a wristwatch as navigational tools. “I don’t know if it’s years of inversions in yoga, but I like disorientation, and I like trying to find comfort in that,” he said. “I think John is thinking about the same thing with the dancers and the idea that the piece sort of disintegrates and becomes completely disoriented at times.”

It does build back up in the end. For Mr. Jasperse dance may be a complex animal, but there’s a reason he’s returning, 20 years later, to a more visceral side of his art form. “I understand the complexity of why sitting in a theater watching people do fancy things on a stage is a complicated paradigm in terms of contemporary work,” he said. “But I’ve never been at a place where I’m ready to just throw it away.”

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With generous support by the Woman’s Exchange Inc., this exciting and diverse cultural program will feature selections from Cinderella, Les Patineurs (Skaters), and a variety of innovative contemporary works.

It will include a first time collaboration with West Coast Tangueros, performing a variety of tango dances, the cultural and social dance of Argentina. WCCB further depicts social and cultural relevance of its vision through community dance by demonstrating its philosophy of inclusiveness by presenting performers ages four through eighty.

Join in the magic of how goodness prevails in the story of CINDERELLA, despite sibling rivalry within the family. Also, enjoy this eclectic performance watching the skaters’ antics, while they slip and slide on the ice.

A premiere contemporary piece will be unveiled by Mary Richardson, newest staff member of the West Coast Civic Ballet. Alumni Dancers will help honor this occasion by performing their own contemporary works.

In addition, families are invited to attend Cinderella’s Tea Party right before the performance from 5:30-6:30 pm. Parents and children may have tea with cast members while enjoying delightfully tasty pastries and sandwiches in Cinderella’s festive court setting.

Performance: Adults $15, Seniors $10, Students $5.
Tea Party Fundraising Event: $15
Payments for tickets are available online at westcoastcivicballet.org, at the door, or by calling 941.350.9900.
Additional Information: Please contact westcoastcivicballet@gmail.com or 941.400.6277

Herald Tribune Ticket – September 14, 2011 - The West Coast Civic Ballet will host open auditions for its holiday production on Saturday, Sept. 24 from 2:30 to 6 p.m. at its studios, 1370-D Blvd. of the Arts in Sarasota.

Artistic Director Deborah Vinton will be casting for selections from “Cinderella” and “Les Patineurs,” as well as for a variety of contemporary works that will be performed at Booker High School’s Visual and Performing Arts Center on December 17 at 7 p.m.

The audition and rehearsal fee is $25 (waived for those with financial need) and every effort will be made to ensure that all interested parties are able to participate in some aspect of the production. Dancers and actors of all experience levels, ages 5 and up, are encouraged to attend.

The WCCB was founded in 2002 to provide quality training and performance opportunities for dancers and actors within the Sarasota and Manatee communities.

Read article on Herald Tribune Ticket website.

The audition and rehearsals will culminate in an exciting and diverse Holiday Program, which will include selections from Cinderella, Skaters, and a variety of innovative contemporary works. Dancers and choreographers will present their works on December 17th at 7:00pm, at Booker High School, Sarasota Visual, and Performing Arts Center. Audition and rehearsal fee is $25 (Waivers for families with financial need). West Coast Civic Ballet makes every effort to ensure that all interested parties are able to participate in some aspect of the production.

You do not have to freeze to be one of the dancers skating on the pond in LES PATINEURS or join in making CINDERELLA’s story of sibling rivalry and help create how her goodness prevails.

Deborah Vinton founded West Coast Civic Ballet in 2002 in an effort to bring performance dance to the Sarasota and Bradenton communities. The WCCB mission is to provide quality training and performance opportunities to area artists in classical and contemporary dance and to enhance the appreciation and participation in the visual and performing arts, regardless of economic status.

WCCB offers dance classes in ballet as well as other genres of dance. We welcome students and interested members of Sarasota and Manatee communities to participate in all aspects of our organization. WCCB offers dance programs for children, youth, adults, and seniors. Our performing group is open to anyone who would like to audition and perform in community events.

To find out more about WCCB and this opportunity, please contact us.

All my very best,
Mariah Cohen”

Auditions for the company’s holiday performance, which will this year include “Cinderella,” “Les Patineurs” and contemporary works, will take place on Saturday, September 24 from 2:30 to 6 p.m. Dancers of five years and older, including adults, are welcome to audition. Classes and auditions will be held at the WCCB studio, located at 1370-D Boulevard of the Arts in Sarasota.

The organization also announced the addition of Mary Richardson to its faculty. Richardson, originally from Niceville, Florida, is a 2011 BFA graduate of the University of Florida, where she trained in modern dance, African and ballet. She will teach contemporary jazz/hip-hop and modern dance for the WCCB.

For more information, contact Artistic Director Deborah Vinton at 504-6762.

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