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dance organizations (Circuit Est in Montreal, and The Dance Centre in Vancouver) as a Croatian artistic presence, I did not hesitate in the choice; she was my immediate and first choice. I knew that inviting her would not only benefit the project, but also present a new, different challenge and over a longer period of time, offer Jasna an opportunity to research further, and dare I say open up and find herself again (not that she was ever lost!). The subject matter as it coincided was aligned quite well not only with Jasna’s life experience, but also with her then most recent academic accomplishments.
I remember quite vividly a moment of doubt that emerged in Vancouver when Jasna was veering off-topic. She was concerned that the theme of migration, having deeply experienced this herself and having studied it extensively, deserved a very serious consideration yet she could not hold back on the humour and irony of the many situations that she had witnessed and experienced as a migrant herself. My response to her was that humour is a serious business. Just jump into it, as clearly it is calling you! The result was the delightful work "Staying Alive”, which caught the attention of international programmers and took the world by storm at the Aerowaves platform, and which then toured extensively. I was thrilled to once again see her perform. She owned the stage and was at one with her material, and she captured the attention of audiences wherever she went. Her work was clearly communicative, in a way I had never witnessed before. This was her: confident in owning the moment, her story, her art without doubt and with such compassion and empathy. And yes, there was humour. "Lady Justice” followed, another of her constructs that questions social and political structures, our individual roles and the ways we judge each other. Of course this work too evolves through a provocative, playful structure which engages the audience and asks them to make decisions as the work unfolds. I often wondered, observing from afar the work of Clément and
then of Jasna, whether she was perhaps trying too hard to be seen as distinct, as different, as if afraid that otherwise she may be left in the shadow of her artistic and life partner. And as we see today it was a matter of life, artistic growth and understanding one’s path. All of their joint dreams, as well as individual pursuits are coming together most wondrously through their company Public in Private. Through their joint venture, the two artists continue to develop separate choreographic signatures, while supporting each other. As in life, so in art.
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