Jasmin Vardimon

• Jasmin Vardimon Dance Company

  - theatrical, innovative, quirky, human, detailed

  - pieces have links to human experience and social relevance

  - encourages the growth of a cultural legacy

  - her work is provocative and breaks rules that exist in other styles

  - her collaborative initiative with the Institute of the Arts Barcelona led to a European base

  - Ashford space.
• Vardimon early life

  - Born in israel in a Kibbutz community

  - Active childhood - sports, gymnastics, dance

  - Served 2 years in the military at 18 (national service).

  - She was a psychological interviewer - claims to have given her a lifetime of human stories to feed into dance theatre pieces

  - Father was a theatre artistic director - grew up exposed to theatre that questioned and challenged society
• Influences

  - Her father being the Artistic Director of a theatre presenting left wing political plays opened her mind to many ways of expressing and telling stories through theatre.

  
  

  - Growing up in a Kibbutz in the 70s - very democratic, socially aware environment taught her an awareness of human behaviour and group dynamics

  
  

  - National Service opened up her mind to wider culture and codes of behaviour. It also told her that the way people tell stories interested her
• Starting points

  - Her influences come from life around her such as events or memories.

  - Ideas and concepts stay in her mind dormant for a long time until they surface.

  - Her works always start with a concept that gets explored and researched which then evolves into the final work.
• Choreographic approach

  - Multi-layered works that communicate different languages and engage on multiple levels through different movement qualities.

  - She likes to use physical, visual and vocal techniques.

  - She designs her pieces in this order - Set, Props, Costume, Text, Lighting, Music. Set is first as it is interacted with throughout the interactive process. The costume is early on as it can often be used as a prop. Music is last so that the movement isn't restricted.
• Key themes

  - Social Concern - an issue of high priority to resolve and achieve justice and equality. Jasmin often makes commentary and provides thoughts and reflections rather than answers.

  - Human Behaviour - likely stemmed from her psychology background.
• Stimulus

  - When in residency in Barcelona, she conversed with her dancers and reflections of the climate we live in became a starting point for the work.

  - Through research and development with the dancers, it became a poetic reflection of the powerful feminine symbol of Medusa, the myth and its wider connections to our society.

  - Medusa (2018) was made as a deconstruction of the myth and designed to show the forgotten story of medusa

  - 2016 election of Trump - Hilary Clinton turned into medusa in Trump's campaign - intrigued at how medusa was often used as a symbol to silence strong women.
• THEME 1: The Environment


  - Medusa is a translation of the word jellyfish in 28 languages including Vardimon's mother tongue Hebrew

  - Jellyfish also have the same ability to sting and paralyse by injecting venom into its prey.

  - Despite the damage climate change is making to our seas, it causes jellyfish to thrive as overfishing kills predators.

  - Jellyfish also thrive in warm water, unlike other sea life.
• THEME 2: Gender, Politics and Medusa the myth


  -The image of medusa has historically been used to silence strong females, e.g.) Trump's campaign in 2016

  - Medusa is often remembered as a monster as supposed to the victim of a rape.

  - In the current #MeToo system, this theme is very relevant
• THEME 3: Women in patriarchal systems


  - The story of medusa reflects women's relationship to a patriarchal system

  - The stage consists of 6 large phallic chimneys which dominate the entire stage - represent men and their willies 😂

  - In a duet between a male and female dancer(Shadow Duet) the woman is choreographed as the man's shadow, reflecting how women are below men in society
• Influences

  - Physical theatre: Vardimon's work often blurs the boundaries between dance and theatre, and she may draw inspiration from the wider world of physical theatre, including the work of practitioners such as Jaques Lecoq and Philippe Gaulier.

  - Literature and Visual Arts: Vardimon's choreography often explores narrative themes and visual imagery. She may find inspiration in literature, art and other forms of storytelling.

  - Personal Experiences: Like many artists, Vardimon's personal experiences and cultural background may also influence her work. She was born in Israel and trained in classical ballet. Her work often reflects her diverse cultural influences.
• Contributions to ICDSB

  - Female choreographer in a male dominated industry

  - Outreach- JV2, NYDC, Degree course links. Provides the future generation of dancers with professional opportunities.

  Relationship between dance and technology is ever evolving

  - Multi-media approach leads to visually stunning productions

  - Blended approach to dance and theatre

  - Sadlers Wells associate artist (guarantee her work will be shown each year)

  - Celebrated 20 years of JVC demonstrates her longevity and commitment to ICDSB

  - Thought provoking and challenging questions - climate change, feminism, genocide
• Key Themes

  - Reflection on genocide

  - Man's universal capacity for cruelty

  - The horror of our continued and systematic violence
• Starting Points (Stimulus)

  - Visiting Auschwitz 20 years before she made the piece.

  Seeking traces of her ancestors

  - Idea of genocide matters to her as it is happening in many forms

  - Personal experience with themes of genocide and man's cruelty.

  - Lack of identity.

  - Font of 7734 spells out HELL when upside down. Also carries symbolic weight beyond comprehension. Date of holocaust. Numbers tattooed on victims

  - Collaboration with the dancers. All researched in poland. Visited museums. Read old Hebrew poems and literature
• Themes

  - Man's ability to turn on itself. Human Nature.

  - Reflection on genocide (personally to her, about the Holocaust)

  - Collective memory of a cruel world and the inheritance of pain and memory. The way our perspectives can shift if we look at things differently.The way our experience affects the way we see the world.

  - Whilst Vardimon didn't create the work to be specific to the atrocities the Nazis committed, she implies this as her connection to the dark side of mankind and that this will be different for all viewers.
• Why is 7734 relevant to today's society?

  - Nearly every culture shares a diasporic memory, at the heart of which lies a legacy of violence, distance and exclusion.

  - Along with memories, our parents pass on their fears and prejudice. So, one's cultural inheritance is made up of these elements.

  - With world events being so accessible to watch, does this dilute the severity of them? Are we too exposed to trauma which distorts the truth?