April 21st @ 3:30pm
Open Studio
On The Boards, Seattle Washington
Jessica’s mission is to raise the importance of empathy for modern audiences and theatre by initiating adventurous communication with each other. Nurturing risk, mystery, absurdity, sensation of the body, and emancipation through imagination.
Within the hysteria of pop-culture, the magic of the mundane, and the austerity of ancient rituals, Jessica Jobaris creates performances that research:
How do we interact with life and each other; out of freedom, love or fear? How is this embodied in our relationship with our world and our sentient bodies?
Striving to develop a language made of duality, chaos, connection and disruption, her performances invite perception into the Mystery of our aliveness. The use of film, animation, text, props and natural elements create a bewildering web of humor and voodoo.
To make conscious the Universal within the Individual; researching and reconstructing understandings of the relationships we create with objects and each other, from the surface of skin to spirit. Performance is not always what is important; sometimes it is just the act of doing, or becoming. Works have been seen on lampposts as graffiti tag, under piles of dirt in abandoned farms fields, tucked in sand dunes, city parks, train stations, schools, airplane hangars, and the usual black box theatre.
That which compells us into action. The Unseen within.
Jessica Jobaris & General Magic was the literal climax to the festival's building of foreplay of ideals, themes, angst and lush imagery.
Jen Scholten, Thru Media
The piece left a frenetic buzz deep in the gut, appealing to our wild, primal natures
Seattle Dances
Under the direction of artistic director Jessica Jobaris, General Magic is the fluid group of performers who are key collaborators on her creative projects. A diverse range of backgrounds, bodies, ages and identities facilitate the investigation and practices of vulnerability and resiliency, absurdity and the sacred.
General Magic examines the intersection of everyday Life to the Supernatural world, using aspects of ceremonies, rites of passage, personal ritual, shamanism, bodywork, meditation, inebriation, dance training, BDSM, music, improvisation, humor - all allowing us to listen deeply, push our limitations and heighten our intuition.
Dance, like life, has a lot to do with perception. How we perceive our life experiences through our bodies (mental, physical, emotional, and intuitive) is the cornerstone of Jessica's teaching.
Movement expression is one of the most natural aspects of our humanity. That said, over the past 10 years, Jessica has been teaching dance and movement to nearly every demographic, from professional dancers, to actors, to pedestrians, and to incarcerated youth and adults. Jessica has taught at the University level through the community level, in public and private schools, both internationally and throughout the United States since 2006.
From 2007-2015 she was the movement director for Freehold's Engaged Theater Tour, leading workshops taking Shakespeare into state prisons. Jessica has been guest instructor of dance at Cornish College of the Arts (2007-present), Seattle Pacific University (2006, 2012), Dock 11 (2009, Berlin, DE), Emmanuel Kirche Improv Series (2009, Berlin, DE), University of Utah (2008), The Evergreen School (2011-present, Seattle) and Velocity Dance Center (2011-present). She also holds a 250 hour yoga certification, and Level one Expressive Arts Therapy certification from Anna Halprin's Tamalpa Institute.
Through the act of movement, her classes encourage inner freedom by asking participants to be present inside uncertainty as they confront difficult improvisation scores and imaginal circumstances. Teaching from an intuitive as well a technical platform, students research the verb “to be” more than “to do.” Using ancient practices such as trance, shaking, rolling and vocalizing, BDSM, imagination, improvisation, release technique, and Expressive Arts Movement Therapy, there is a balance of experiential play and rigor. Jessica's classes are said to be kind, yet challenging, and serious work is met with a sense of humor.
Interested in a class?
Or"Jessica’s teaching style and asana sequencing are crafted so the student can experience yogic philosophy in action during her classes." - Ann Zitzmann
"I really like the contradiction, and then to have the ability to move between contradictions within the class. It was so refreshing to have such a different approach to an improvisation class. I was able to find a sense of freedom that I’ve only experienced while dancing in Germany." - Eliza Larson
April 21st @ 3:30pm
On The Boards, Seattle Washington
May 20th & May 21st @ 7pm
Base: Experimental Arts + Space
June 9th @ 12pm-4pm
Base Experimental Arts & Space
November 7th-16th 2019
Base Experimental Arts & Space