MA
MISSION: Jessie Jeanne & Dancers (JJ&D) is a rigorous creative laboratory and performance collaborative for visceral and somatic research, via contemporary dance making practices. We value audacity and somatic awareness. Through creative process we traverse cultural and interpersonal boundaries, unearthing new pathways of communication and connection. We have a commitment to commissioning local, national, and international dance choreographers to set original works on New England-based dancers, striving always to work with one established and one emerging choreographer each season in an effort to fortify the dance economy. JJ&D also provides educational opportunities for early career performers and makers by offering educational programming through workshops and residencies, allowing young New England artists to grow and contribute to artistic discourse. VISION:The project endeavours to expose Greater Boston audiences to the highest caliber dance works being created by choreographers working on a local, national, and international scale, presented on local dancers. Three years from now, Jessie Jeanne & Dancers will be the top grassroots, contemporary dance company in the Greater Boston area by commissioning, twice yearly, innovative works of socio-political relevance from emerging and acclaimed, local and international choreographers. INSPIRATION:In 2016 Boston became JJ&D’s permanent home. This vision for this iteration of the company came into being as a result of performing abroad on a tour, which coincided with the 2016 US Presidential Election. Finding ourselves on foreign soil during a very politically turbulent moment in US history, we chose to focus our energies on human-to-human interaction and diplomacy. We impacted foreign audiences by embodying values of rigour, relevance, audacity, and progressivity through our work, opening up dialogue across cultural, social, and political boundaries. As a result of how rich that experience felt, we are now committed to using our work to promote positive change within ourselves and our audiences. We are motivated to work together in the form of process-based creative practice, which produces socially relevant pieces of dance performance, and to locate those choreographers whose artistic profiles echo our desire, inviting them into dialogue that stems from a deeply human place. HISTORY:2013-14
JJ&D is founded by Jessie Jeanne Stinnett and is awarded a space and performance grant by the Brooklyn Music School to create d'Henri, the company's first evening-length work, choreographed by Stinnett.
d'Henri is self-produced and also presented by theatrical and non-traditional performance spaces in Brooklyn, NYC, London, and Boston. The work has been produced by Dixon Place (NYC), Shape Shifter Lab (Brooklyn), Triskelion Arts (Brooklyn), Actors Fund Arts Center (Brooklyn), Sans Limite Dance (NYC) Dance for World Community (Cambridge), ArtBeat Festival (Somerville), Mobius Art Gallery (Cambridge) and Boston Center for the Arts (Boston).
2014-16
Participates in a series of residencies at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Dance and Music (London) to create duration and hive, choreographed by Stinnett.
Stinnett leads Workshops and Masterclasses at Trinity Laban (London), TripSpace (London), Stretch (London), International Somatics Conference & Performance Festival (Geneva, NY), Sunflower Retreats (Italy), Green Street Studios (Cambridge)
duration and hive premiere at Chisenhale Dance Space (London) on a split-bill with Swedish dance artist Rosalie Wahlfrid.
duration is presented by International Somatics Conference & Performance Festival (Geneva, NY) and Boston Center for the Arts (Boston).
Receives the New England Dance Fund award from New England Foundation for the Arts.
dusk, choreographed by Stinnett, premieres at Chisenhale Dance Space (London) under the presenting umbrella of The Boston Touring Group
2017
The Dance Complex (Cambridge) presents dusk in the Catalysts Performance Series.
Residency at Harvard University (Cambridge) to build a collaborative work between Stinnett and poet Sarah Anne Stinnett entitled Bodyspeak. The company also creates Beneath Crystal Skin, choreographed by Stinnett in collaboration with the dancers.
Marcus Schulkind re-sets Allemande, a solo originally created on Liz Waterhouse (Forsythe Company), on JJ&D as a duet. Allemande is presented by Studio at 550 (Cambridge) as part of their Open Floor Series.
Galatea Art Gallery (Boston) presents Bodyspeak in a split bill with Karen Klien/TeXtmoVes.
Greenspace (NYC) presents Beneath Crystal Skin in the Fertile Ground Showcase.
The Dance Complex (Cambridge) presents Beneath Crystal Skin in a split bill with Prometheus Dance, Lorraine Chapman The Company, and Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion.
Stinnett leads Workshops and Masterclasses at Dean College (Franklin, MA), The Dance Complex (Cambridge), Wilmington Dance Academy (Wilmington, MA)
Summer Residency and Immersion Project at 3s Artspace (Portsmouth, NH) to focus on process with daily in-studio showings.
TOURING:
Fee support for Jessie Jeanne & Dancers may be available to nonprofit organizations through the New England States Touring (NEST) program of the New England Foundation for the Arts. Visit www.nefa.org for more information.
BOOKING:
For a full description of services and budget visit PRESS KIT and COMPANY REPORT
Institution/Business Type:
Performing Group
Legal Status:
Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship
Year Founded:
2013
Institution/Business Type:
Performing Group
Legal Status:
Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship
Year Founded:
2013
Primary Discipline:
Dance - Modern / ContemporaryAdditional Disciplines:
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$500 - $5,000Teaching Settings:
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$500 - $5,000NEST Eligible Artist
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$1,000 - $30,000State of Residence:
MassachusettsMinimum Number of Performers:
2Maximum Number of Performers:
8