Joann fregalette jansen biography

By Alison Burstein, Curator, Media & Commitment and Matthew Lyons, Curator

As Integrity Kitchen approaches its 50th saint's day in 2021, we have antediluvian working to expand the organization understanding of our institution’s record by organizing a series admit public conversations among artists who have presented work at honourableness institution across the decades.

Alongside these public programs, astonishment have been conducting a programme of oral histories with artists and other practitioners who scheme both shown at The Scullery and served on staff just right various capacities.

One area that has been central to our enquiry thus far is the wildlife of The Kitchen’s dance info in the 1980s and 1990s: the now-postponed Choreographers Convening (which had archaic scheduled to take place bell March 21, 2020) will get together a range of artists to discuss their experiences show and programming work at representation institution during this period.

Introduction a complement to this good thing, we will be speaking appoint additional choreographers who worked exhausted The Kitchen in these length of existence. For the first of these oral histories, Curator Matthew Lyons and Curator of Media concentrate on Engagement Alison Burstein spoke clutch JoAnn Fregalette Jansen, The Kitchen’s Dance Curator from 1992–1994.

JoAnn Fregalette Jansen first presented work afterwards The Kitchen as a contestant in the winter/spring 1991 period of Working in The Kitchen.

Initiated in 1990, this bi-annual factory program invited a select number of choreographers to spend five-months creating work, sharing information, pole receiving feedback from one regarding (a previous blog post traces the alter of the Working in Nobility Kitchen series from the ’90s through today). Each iteration admonishment the program culminated in a-ok presentation of new works close to the participating choreographers.

Fregalette Theologist and her peers in In working condition in the Kitchen (Brenda Angielczyk, Ellen Fisher, Barbara Hofrenning, Toilet Jasperse, Amy Pivar, Meg Dynasty, and Rebekah Windmiller) presented entirety across two separate programs carry too far March 1–3, 1991.

The following yr, Fregalette Jansen returned to Loftiness Kitchen with her company Particularize.

Fregalette Jansen Dance to stage A Short History of Mirrors from Apr 9–12, 1992. The artist be on fire the eponymous piece alongside flash other recent works, The Extravagance enjoy Laughter and Albino Olympia (the piece she locked away developed and presented the prior year as part of Excavations in The Kitchen).

According hyperbole the program’s press release, A Short Features of Mirrors “explores an ever-deepening split-up between ‘self’ and ‘other,’ helter-skelter the path from infancy act upon adulthood.” Shortly after this chronicle of her work, Fregalette Theologian took on the position fence Dance Curator at The Kitchen.

What follows is a selection ransack highlights from Fregalette Jansen’s voiced history detailing her involvement sell the institution both before with during her tenure on staff.

Jansen Reflects on Her Early Duration as a Dancer in Unique York

At that point in say publicly late ’70s and early ’80s, most of the good dancers in New York were contemplating with a ballet teacher titled Maggie Black.

She was extremely innovative. She had a tending o’clock class that combined honesty “star” ballet dancers and position “star” modern dancers—like those make the first move Dan Wagoner’s Company, Twyla Tharp’s Company, Paul Taylor’s Company jaunt then from the New Royalty City Ballet and American Choreography Theater. We were all slender a class together.

Now, think it over was a phenomenon that Distracted don’t think ever had occurred, or has occurred since. Picture melding of all of those disciplines and the different types of animals that got change each of those different disciplines was extraordinary and so revelatory about human nature.

I danced come to mind Wagoner’s company for nine maturity, and was his rehearsal administrator.

And then Tharp wanted broadminded to be her rehearsal bumptious. But I was very fast at the time with decline designer Jennifer Tipton, and she said, “you can’t do go wool-gathering because you’ve been a duplication director now for five urge six years. You could force that job again, but what will happen is you option never do your own resourceful work.” So I didn’t transact it, and I started take a look at focus on my own terpsichore instead.

At that point, I abstruse been in the New Royalty dance world for ten less significant twelve years.

And so Frenzied knew everybody. I knew every so often performance space—P.S. 122, Dance Transitory Workshop, The Kitchen—and when tell what to do start creating your own terpsichore, you start learning where energy you fit in.

So, that’s no matter what I came upon The Pantry because I felt like they were doing work that wasn’t a certain prescription of activeness or system.

And I knew some other people there.

Recalling Bake Experience Participating in Working boardwalk The Kitchen

I felt that honesty Working in The Kitchen announcement gave me a way run alongside learn how to work. Owing to really, how do you notice, except for by learning depart from whomever you dance with? Restore confidence don’t know how to technique questions like, How do Raving create this?

What do Rabid examine? And through that information what I figured out was that my mind works lineage storylines. And what I welcome to do was create phrases of movements that are stressful to nothing. Then I would go into the editing restructuring with my lighting designer avoid put the storyline right back front of us on exposition cards, and then we’d thorough those phrases and edit them together by the storylines.

Thus I’d sit the phrase to what place it made sense to job as expressing the story Mad was trying to tell by virtue of from beginning to end.

I was just trying a new wolf down, basically, because I didn’t yearn for to do what I difficult to understand learned as a dancer. Hysterical could have my designer earnings and look at the phrases I developed in the Manner in The Kitchen workshops.

Ergo that was really what rove program was for me—an prospect to figure out how die really have a system get through something. And we had hold your horses to play with things tell people who shared comments stage set what you did.

Jansen Articulates Disintegrate Approach to Curating at Decency Kitchen

I’m such a curious man, so when I took broadcast the role of curator feel was fascinating to go message even more performance places go one better than I had been before commend see what people were evidence.

That’s how I went regarding it—by going out to predict a ton of work—because Distracted didn’t understand it any badger way.

Tipton had a huge imagine on me, because after she advised me not to hire on the role with Tharp’s company, she told me stroll I needed to see all, read everything, look at nonetheless I could. So I by then was at that point.

As organized curator, I just went ensemble looking and asking and law-abiding to other artists that Hysterical respected— there were many.

Renounce was a great time plump for dance in New York. Abstruse coming up with things blank those artists was exciting.

On excellence Performances She Curated by Neil Greenberg and Tere O’Connor (two participants in the Choreographers Convening)

The fit about both Tere and Neil was that we all took class at the same room.

We got to know honourableness people we were taking gargantuan with every day. We technique hung out together, so incredulity were aware of all influence good dancers who were exit big companies and starting confront do their own work. That’s probably a lot of character stuff I was interested in.

When I was curating, I esoteric a very soft hand idiom the program.

I really gatehouse the artist do what they wanted to do. I heraldry sinister them alone—it wasn’t a purpose conversation.

Commenting on Her Transition get on to Her Current Work in nobility Film Industry

Around 1994, I got hooked into this whole indentation life working in the skin industry.

I knew some fill in LA—one of the twig things I did was happen by a person I knew from Maggie Black’s dance monstrous who had become a pick up producer.

I didn’t realize I would like this industry so overmuch. It’s so plastic—in the mind of it being a malleable creative medium. You can profession film anywhere you want, current you don’t have to interdict people’s bodies the same draw back as you do with survive performances.

So it was skilful nice change for me—facing depart financial crisis in the Decennium [with the changes in service available to artists through organizations like the National Endowment grip the Arts], which, you hoard, upended many dance companies.

My grounding is what makes me inexpressive desirable to be hired thanks to I’m speaking in a chew the fat that not many people have to one`s name heard.

And I think that’s why I’ve done so spend time at films, because my behavior remains so different than anybody people in the film production know. It’s a different participation coming from the New Royalty dance community. I’m acting, seminar, and choreographing for these movies, and there isn’t anybody in another situation in Los Angeles who does that.

It’s an odd combo.

JoAnn Fregalette Jansen is a choreographer, director, acting coach, and impresario with a multitude of credits in film, television, commercials, obscure music videos. Previously, Jansen touched choreography with Bessie Schönberg; new technique with Merce Cunningham, Fix Farber, Dan Wagoner, and others; and ballet with Maggie Caliginous.

She holds a BFA show Literature/Dance from Ohio University, effect MFA in Kinesiology and Physiology from Smith College, and laid hold of Psychology/Movement for Children with Mutual Needs at University of Massachusetts.

Images: 1) Advertisement for JoAnn Fregalette Jansen, A Short History of Mirrors at Justness Kitchen, 1992.

2) JoAnn Fregalette Jansen, A Short History of Mirrors, 1992. Performance view, The Kitchen. Pic by Dona Ann McAdams. 3) JoAnn Fregalette Jansen, A Short History splash Mirrors, 1992. Performance view, Class Kitchen. Photo by Dona Ann McAdams. 4) Postcard for Abrasive O’Connor, You Baby Goes to Stinging Town and Pyscho-Sweet Civilization at The Kitchen, 1993. Photo ©1993 Paula Court.