Updated World Premiere of Beyond Belief
02-23-2009
Photos: http://theatredance.ucdavis.edu/season/archives.aspx
Photo Credit: Joey Kunin
The UC Davis Department of Theatre & Dance presents the world premiere of Beyond Belief by internationally acclaimed choreographer and Granada Artist-in-Residence John Jasperse. Created at UC Davis winter quarter and featuring a cast of graduate and undergraduate students, Beyond Belief explores the nature of truth and illusion with humor, solemnity and whimsy. The piece juxtaposes different styles of dance and music in a collage that bounces between the sincere and the ironic, asking us to examine what we believe, what we don't, and why. Beyond Belief opens on March 6 and continues March 7-8 and March 13-15 in Main Theatre, UC Davis.
Like a kaleidoscope, Beyond Belief presents various ways of creating "theatrical magic.” The piece alternates between constructing and de-constructing illusion, by following age-old established recipes, breaking these rules, and even occasionally revealing the tricks behind them. The illusions, which range from cheap to surprisingly refined, provide a non-narrative journey. Images of the baroque, refinement, seduction, valiance, and violence, emerge and disappear; in the end, the audience must decide what to believe and what is ruse, what is solid and what is fluff.
Creator/Director/Choreographer John Jasperse compares Beyond Belief to a series of balloons that are blown up and then either burst or deflate in surprising ways, over and over. “The imagery in the work is defined as much by what is hidden as by what is revealed. The intention is that we begin to examine how we make these determinations of what is true and false, of what is real and what is imagined.”
As Artistic Director/Choreographer for the John Jasperse Company, Jasperse continues to build a growing presence on the global contemporary dance scene. His work has been described in The New York Times as "art by and for adults: deeply silly and moving and smart."
This observation is echoed by Beyond Belief actor/dancer and MFA Acting candidate Anne Reeder. “John’s direction has been innovative and intelligent and very intense, but silly too. He exposed me to a different way of thinking about choreography. His style is as specific as his language is clear. The movement has been challenging and hard to master – an incredible learning experience.”
Stage Manager and second-year Dramatic Arts major Evelyn DeFelice describes rehearsals as “a veritable anatomy/physiology class.” She notes, “John has the most unique and engaging way of expressing his vision. When you see the show, you'll catch a glimpse into the eclectic, humorous, and brilliant way his mind works.”
Rounding out the UC Davis cast are PhD Performance Studies student Hillary Bryan, MFA Acting candidates Hope Mirlis and Christine Samson, and actor/dancers Jenna Chen, Tyler Eash, Hillary Feineman-Klausner, Devin Collins, and Heather Shapiro. The UC Davis production team includes MFA candidates Lynne Giovanetti (Costume Design), Jamie Kumpf (Scenic Design), Tony Shayne (Lighting Design), and undergraduate Assistant Stage Managers Taylor Devarie, Brittany Maxwell, and Alejandro Torres.
John Jasperse Biography
John Jasperse graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1985, and then moved to New York City to live and work. He is Artistic Director/Choreographer of John Jasperse Company.
Jasperse has created for the company several shorter works, and twelve evening-length works: Rickety Perch (1989), Eyes Half Closed (1991), furnished/unfurnished (1993), Excessories (1995), Waving to you from here (1997), Madison as I imagine it (1999), Giant Empty (2001), just two dancers (2003), CALIFORNIA (2003), Prone (2005), Becky, Jodi, and John (2007) and
Misuse liable to prosecution (2007) as well as various projects in collaboration with other artists. Recent shorter works include PURE (2008), Fort Blossom (2000), and Scrawl (1999). The Company has been presented by festivals and presenting organizations in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Israel, Japan, and throughout Europe.
Over recent years, Mr. Jasperse's work has been awarded several prestigious awards both in the United States and abroad, including a New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Award in 2001 in recognition of his body of choreographic work, the 1999 Scripps/ADF Primus-Tamaris Fellowship, the Doris Duke Award (1998), the 1997 Mouson Award by Künstlerhaus Mousonturm in
Frankfurt, Germany; three prizes in the 1996 Rencontres Internationales Chorégraphiques de Bagnolet; and the Choreography Prize at the 3rd Suzanne Dellal International Dance Competition (1996) in Tel Aviv, Israel for Excessories.
Currently, Jasperse is developing a new work Truth, Revised Histories, Wishful Thinking and Flat Out Lies (working-title), a new work for six performers with a commissioned score by Hahn Rowe for live string quartet and electronics. Scenic and visual design is by John Jasperse, with lighting
design by Jasperse in collaboration with Joe Levasseur. “Truth” is a 25th Anniversary Commission of the Joyce Theater, NYC, and a co-production of The Forsythe Company, Dresden Germany, where it will have its world premiere in September 2009, followed by its New York premiere at The Joyce Theater in the 2009-10 season.
Under the umbrella of the Company, Jasperse has created five works for other companies: See Through Knot, commissioned by the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation for White Oak’s Dance Project (2000); The Rest, commissioned by the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv, Israel (2000); à double face for the Lyon Opéra Ballet, France (March 2002); missed FIT for The Irish Modern Dance Theater, Dublin, Ireland (October 2002); and most recently Highline, as a part of the Montana Suite Project for Headwaters Dance Company, Missoula, MT (2007).
Jasperse's choreographic work has been supported by fellowships from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts (2003), the Tides Foundation’s Lambent Fellowship in the Arts (2004-2007), John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1998), the National Endowment for the Arts (1992, 1994, 1995-96) and the New York Foundation for the Arts (1988, 1994 and 2000).
Since 1991, he has regularly taught workshops and classes in the U.S., Europe, Mexico, and Brazil. As a dancer/performer, he began his career working with Lisa Kraus and Dancers (1985-1987), creating original roles in four works, and performing in the US and Europe. In 1988 and 1989, he worked in Belgium with Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker's Rosas, performing in Ottone in major festivals and venues through Europe. From 1987 to 1993, he worked with Jennifer Monson, both performing in her work and collaborating on improvisation projects.
This production includes the use of chemical fog.
What: Beyond Belief Created, Directed and Choreographed by UC Davis Granada Artist-in-Residence John Jasperse
Where: Main Theatre, UC Davis
When: Fri 3/6 ~ Sat 3/7, 8pm
Fri 3/13 ~ Sat 3/14, 8pm
Sun 3/8, 7pm
Sun 3/15, 2pm Tickets: $16/18 General; $11/13 Student & Child
Purchase tickets: (530) 754-2787, or toll-free (866) 754-2787 or http://theatredance.ucdavis.edu
Special School Group Tickets:
School and youth groups of 10 or more receive a special rate of $5 per ticket at the teacher or group leader’s request. Call the UC Davis Department of Theatre & Dance at (530) 752 -5863 to make arrangements for this discount.
More information: http://theatredance.ucdavis.edu
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