artist statement
Jessica Gaynor holds an MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from California Institute of the Arts, and a BA from Brown University, where upon graduation she received the Weston Award for excellence in dance. She has been a guest choreographer at Brown University, Grand Canyon University, Amalgamate Dance Company's Guest Artist Showcase, Berlin Dance Institute, the Fieldston School, Young Dancemakers Company and the Brearley School. She has led performance projects and workshops at Tanzfabrik and PAUL Studios, taught open classe at Peridance Capezio Center, Gibney Dance Center Tanzfabrik and currently teaches repertory and improvisation at the Berlin Dance Institute. Gaynor is Artistic Director of Young Dancemakers Company and curates a monthly movement and sound series at Petersburg Art Space Berlin.
My choreographic aesthetic is to create expression through the interplay of various elements: physicality, repetition, internal rhythms, focus, stillness, speed, silence, intention of movement, and beauty. I am continually examining the gestural relationships between musical and dance physicality.
I believe in choreography built on honesty, and dancing beyond the limits of one's physicality. Beauty can be achieved by creating a deeply charged energy on stage. If someone is moving at a pace so fast that she creates a force on stage, and suddenly finds herself in stillness -- that is beauty. Beauty is the human form reacting, breathing, feeling, and thinking. Physicality is beautiful. Being honest as a performer is beautiful. Dance is based in the human form which, when in motion, has the potential to be exquisite. Through abstract movement and sound, I attempt to extract emotion from pure physicality.