"Shamelessly playful!" --audience review
Rehearsing "Frank", 2019; blue buddha with Jessica Fudim; Photo credit: Tommy Dickson
Artist Statement
I make dance-theater performances because I want to illuminate our humanity. Using the tools of playfulness and make-believe, I create hospitable spaces for us to explore the darker aspects of life.
The soul of my creative process is collaboration. Collaboration with–
the performers:
In my group pieces, the performers’ individual bodies and perspectives inform the work. We begin the process by building a shared intention via conversation, ritual and games. Much of the content is co-created; the performers play with my movement and text, or they offer me theirs and I shape it.
the performance environment:
Whether inside a traditional theater space or not, the location will inform the work.
the audience:
I often use interactive components to incorporate my audience members’ words, images or bodies into the fabric of the performance.
While contemporary movement anchors my art, I welcome whatever forms of dance and theater serve the work: be it go-go gyrations, hide-and-seek, soulful serenades or whispered confessions.
With an open heart and reckless whimsy, I make this work for you and with you. Sit and hold space for our stories to unfold, and if you are game, let’s play.
The soul of my creative process is collaboration. Collaboration with–
the performers:
In my group pieces, the performers’ individual bodies and perspectives inform the work. We begin the process by building a shared intention via conversation, ritual and games. Much of the content is co-created; the performers play with my movement and text, or they offer me theirs and I shape it.
the performance environment:
Whether inside a traditional theater space or not, the location will inform the work.
the audience:
I often use interactive components to incorporate my audience members’ words, images or bodies into the fabric of the performance.
While contemporary movement anchors my art, I welcome whatever forms of dance and theater serve the work: be it go-go gyrations, hide-and-seek, soulful serenades or whispered confessions.
With an open heart and reckless whimsy, I make this work for you and with you. Sit and hold space for our stories to unfold, and if you are game, let’s play.
Bio
rehearsing "Frank", 2019
Jessica has been creating and performing her dance-theater work for more than two decades, both as a solo artist and with her ensemble company, The Dance Animals. Her solo, Sheepish, received a "Best of the SF Fringe" honor and she captained an award-winning musical contingent in the San Francisco Pride Parade. Jessica was a resident artist of The Voice Factory SF and the Workspace for Choreographers in Virginia. She was a Co-Director of The Experimental Performance Institute (EPI) at New College of California and, with the late Dwayne Calizo, she co-produced, choreographed for and performed in the multi-media performance series Crash Cabaret: Where Queers Collide (Heterosexuals encouraged to apply) at San Francisco’s Roxie Theatre.
She has taught movement workshops and classes to both children and adults and has presented her performance work throughout her native Bay Area and beyond, including at the SF International Arts Festival (SFIAF), SAFEhouse for the Arts, CounterPULSE’s STREAMfest, the FURY Factory Festival of Ensemble Theater, the Women on the Way Festival, the 418 Project in Santa Cruz, The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoCA) and in New York at the Mercury Lounge.
In addition to making dance-theater work, Jessica teaches Pilates and lives with her family in the North Bay.
She has taught movement workshops and classes to both children and adults and has presented her performance work throughout her native Bay Area and beyond, including at the SF International Arts Festival (SFIAF), SAFEhouse for the Arts, CounterPULSE’s STREAMfest, the FURY Factory Festival of Ensemble Theater, the Women on the Way Festival, the 418 Project in Santa Cruz, The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoCA) and in New York at the Mercury Lounge.
In addition to making dance-theater work, Jessica teaches Pilates and lives with her family in the North Bay.
Press
‘Memories in Motion’ at Vintage House, Sonoma Valley Sun, February 28, 2022
SFIAF to Present Jessica Fudim & The Dance Animals in "Sheepish", Plus the World Premiere of "Frank"
Charles Kruger, Theatre Storm, May 19, 2019
Charles Kruger, Theatre Storm, May 19, 2019