DCDanceBlog

the ny times online is carrying a piece about john jasperse’s new work, as well as an interview w/ him. apparently his newest piece makes a statement about the paucity of funding for the arts in this country. not a novel idea, but these facts, mentioned in the times interview, still blow the mind:

Mr. Jasperse’s own annual salary ($26,000) as artistic director of the John Jasperse Company; Judge Judy’s annual earnings ($26 million more than the combined annual salaries of all nine United States Supreme Court justices); and the daily cost of the war in Iraq, $720 million, versus the $160 million projected annual budget of the National Endowment for the Arts in 2008. (Read that again and marvel: The words daily and annual are not mistakes.)

wow. depressing as hell!

i’ve only seen one performance by jasperse; it was at the american dance festival some years ago, probably around 2001 or 2002. at that time, i wasn’t dancing a whole lot, so my perceptions probably would be very different now. still, what i saw might be what a lot of nondancers would see. i was very underwhelmed by his work. the dancers were beautiful, but the work seemed extremely indulgent and way too reliant on props and a set with too many bells and whistles. in fact, i felt like the show symbolized quite clearly what can go wrong w/ modern dance, why average audience members feel like they “don’t get it.”

i’d love to hear what others like about him. i couldn’t figure it out.