Returning to now

Choreographer Jasmin Vardimon, who constructs a multilayered language in the performing arts, appeared at Lütfi Kırdar Anadolu Auditorium on March 27–28 with her new work NOW, marking the 25th anniversary of her company. We spoke with Vardimon about the dialogue between dance and theatre, as well as the artistic transformations that have shaped her 25-year career

Interview: Ayşe Draz

Jasmin Vardimon, Photo: Kat Green

Over twenty years ago, in London, while still a student grappling with Deleuze, Massumi, and the concept of “event,” I encountered Jasmin Vardimon's Lullaby and wrote a lengthy paper about it. What struck me most at the time was the world Vardimon created on stage: the fragile and grotesque states of the body emerging behind the hospital curtains, both concealing and revealing; the amplified gaze created by the simultaneous video projection alongside the live performance; the living body being doubled by its mediated image; the camera forcing the viewer into an almost uncomfortable proximity; and a harsh tone oscillating between humor and discomfort. Although I couldn't yet put a name to it, I sensed that her work produced a field of effect rather than representing meaning, intertwining the body, technology, and gaze, thus making the viewer a part of that network. Lullaby sharpened perception while refusing to offer a psychological comfort zone.

When I heard that Vardimon would be coming to the Lütfü Kırdar Anadolu Auditorium in Istanbul on March 27th and 28th for NOW, the twenty-fifth anniversary production of the UK-based company known for its bold and visually powerful productions spanning over twenty-five years, I immediately realized I wanted to meet her again, to make contact. Although I haven't yet seen NOW and will most likely not be in Istanbul on that date, I wanted to meet and talk with Jasmin and ask her some further questions, through this work, which reimagines iconic scenes from the company's repertoire, blending dance and theatre within a cinematic narrative language to create a dynamic transition between past, present, and future. Today, after all these years and through my own performance practice, returning to Jasmin Vardimon felt not only like returning to an artist, but also like returning to a question that has preoccupied my mind since my youth; it took me on a journey through time.

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Jasmin Vardimon Company, Now, Photo: Tristram Kenton

What is the essence of dance in your opinion?

For me, dance is a form of communication. A language, a way to express myself from within my own body. I feel my body is home to my internal world, which consists of my thoughts, my memories, my ideas. And then it is also a tool of expression to communicate from within that internal world.

Your work carries a distinctly theatrical quality; it's been described as dance theater, even placed in conversation with Pina Bausch. What is the essence of theater in your opinion, and do you see a real difference between theater and dance?  

In my work I always explore the constant dialogue between dance and theatre. That’s where I find the curiosity to explore various ways of telling stories through movement and a mostly visual language. I’m interested in creating an experience through visual elements, mostly, but I do use text as a layer too. In NOW, there is text, but when we use text, it’s mostly when the body cannot tell the story without it, or the text is adding another layer of information.

Do you believe in the transformative power of art?

Absolutely.

And in which ways have you witnessed it on a personal level? How have you experienced or observed this transformation?

Art has the power to inspire new thinking, a new way of witnessing a reality. I’m talking from both an audience and as a performer or creator point of view. I’ve witnessed many transformative experiences, for myself as a performer and as a choreographer. Through the creative process and through the artistic process and exploration, I keep transforming myself, and my relationship with the world around me, in a way that transforms my thinking and my artistic product all the time. And then through my art, I sometimes also witness the process of transformation in the audience. It happens often when an audience member approaches me after a show with tears, expressing their transformative experience, which is very powerful and rewarding to witness, when it happens.

Jasmin Vardimon Company, Now, Photo: Ben Harries

Bodily research, an image, human behaviors, or somewhere else? And do dreams or subconscious material play a role for you? 

Well, many things can trigger a creation, but I mostly start with a concept. In most of my work, I start with a concept, and I explore my personal response to it. My work always existed somewhere in the gap between the universal and the personal, so the subject matters are mostly universal. But the point of view is very personal, and it is presented to the audience through an imaginative and very personal lens. So, for example, in NOW, it was the concept of time. A reflection on the passing of time between the past and the future, where “now” exists, and our shared “now” on the stage, or in the theatre, with a group of people; the audience and the performers sharing the same “now”, which happens in live performances. And although we all share the same “now”, the same moment, we each have different perspectives, different positions (on the stage, off the stage), and different times in our life journey, that brought us to that place and time.

So therefore, each one of us will have an entirely different experience, although we are sharing the same “now”. It starts from a concept and is then explored in different ways, or in different dimensions. The concept of time and the concept of “now”, which is constantly moving like a dance, because the “now” that was even just a second ago, is already gone.

Kind of like something that never stops, always on the move. The other day, I saw a graffiti in Berlin which said, “How long was now?” Is there an artist or figure from any field that you feel has influenced your work profoundly? 

I always find this question difficult and interesting because I feel that all the artists I've collaborated with over the years influenced me and my work. My partner, of course, who I've been collaborating with since the very beginning. The artists that I work with influence me because I enter into each new creation with many questions and get inspired by their responses and that dialogue grows in a creative way between us, which then inspires the outcome, the creation. 

How many performers or artists do you think you have collaborated with in 25 years? Approximately? 

Oh, I'm not sure. There are the creatives and dancers who've been in the company for a very long time, for several years, and there are others who have just been for one creation. 

And obviously, those who stay longer normally it’s because I feel the dialogue with them is very fruitful and very inspirational. 

But I get inspired by many different things. I observe a lot. I can go on the street and see something small, and that could be an inspiration for a whole scene. So, it's the observation and the dialogue I have with any encounters that could inspire a creative process.

Jasmin Vardimon Company, Now, Photo: Tristram Kenton

NOW revisits 25 years of work while it addresses things like violence, protest, uncertainty. And why this choice to celebrate the company's 25-year journey, and how do you find they relate to the concept of time?

25 years of creation is a milestone, and I wanted to stop and reflect on the subjects that I investigated through my career, but also to revisit some of the moments and stories that left a mark on my memory.  Those moments have been brought back to the studio and reworked with new, more current perspectives. I was interested to see how things have moved on over 25 years. 

I feel that now we live in a digital time where a lot of the information that shapes our point of view is manipulated by what we see on screens. If it's on news, if it's on social media, we get a lot of information that shapes our point of view and our understanding of the world.

Although I used cameras in my previous works as well, NOW has cameras installed in various places around the stage and they provide alternative points of view, while additional information is added to what we see live on stage. So, there is always another layer of information which is surprising and different. 

The work also reflects on some old issues that are unfortunately never changing and still very present in our current world, like war, borders, immigration, but at the same time, also the desire for reconciliation and compassion, which is very much in the work. 

I believe there is still space in contemporary performance for work that offers a glimpse of hope, rather than confronting us, even artistically, with the darkness of the world. 

Yes, it's definitely there in the work. But I think, above all, it celebrates the movement of time, live art and what exists only in the moment of action, as a live performance. 

As someone whose work touches on the current state of the world, what feels most urgent to you right now, both as an artist and as a person?

I think humanity and care for others. In fact, my next work, which is a 2nd part for Lullaby, I’ll be focusing on those two subjects. The piece is located in a place where care is given, a hospital, and it looks at those moments where humanity rises above all. 

In a world where AI is said to replace even doctors, care work that requires human warmth of inter-human interaction as well as human presence, seems to be the one thing that can't be replaced. 

You integrate real-time video and projection in ways that reshape how the audience perceives bodies and space; I remember this from Lullaby, which felt like one of the first pieces I'd seen use it so organically within the dramaturgy. How did this visual language evolve, and how did it become so central?

I think there is a question that I’ve asked through all my works since the beginning, and I keep asking it; whether what we see dictates our point of view or if our point of view dictates what we see? And it's something that a lot of the time, I'm not sure what the answer is. At times, we come with preconceptions, and so we see the reality through that lens more, and at other times, we see something and that will completely change our understanding and our reading of that reality. So, through collaborating with Guy, we create visuals that add or reveal layers and different textures. Even text is a texture for me, another layer that adds information. And the camera offers a new reality, which is familiar for us but it's also surprising; with the proximity there are always different elements and angles that you don't see from the stage when you're far away.

Jasmin Vardimon Company, Now, Photo: Tristram Kenton

We seem to be living through a moment of regression globally, especially when it comes to gender equality, which makes the visibility and positive discrimination of female artists feel more urgent than ever. In your work, the female body consistently appears as a site of labor, resistance, and transformation. How do you approach it? And how does being a female artist yourself shape that?

I have always been told that I portray strong females in my work. It isn't always intentional. It happens as part of the creative process, and the process of creating live art, through dialogue with the artists I'm collaborating with. Besides, in Medusa, which was looking at the politics of her mythological character, a piece I’ve created during the time of Me Too, I looked at the politics of Medusa and how she was portrayed as a monster throughout history, in both culture and politics.

When I created it, it was right after the 2016 election in the USA when Donald Trump had shared images of himself as Perseus holding the head of Hillary Clinton, as Medusa. I was really interested how, in culture and history, strong women were always portrayed as monsters, as was Medusa. 

Artists often work as much from intuition as from intention. So, as a final question; your Jasmin Vardimon 2 program for professional development. What gap did you feel compelled to address, that space between training and a professional career? And what do you try to cultivate in the dancers who come through it

The gap that I found was also between dance training and theatre training, in particular. At that time, when I held auditions for dancers, I found that it was quite hard to find performers who engage in both and have both skills. JV2 was created mainly for those dancers who are interested in becoming well-rounded, versatile performers, while using their entire capacities, (meaning physically, vocally and conceptually), as full rounded artists. Through the course, there is a continuous exploration of that dialogue between dance and theatre. And through that dialogue, the various outcomes that, for me, exist between the personal and the universal gap. The other gap I felt that existed was between being a student and being a professional dancer, which many student dancers face when finishing their training… This gap is quite hard to manage, and JV2 prepares dancers for professional life in a touring company. They work as a young company, alongside the main company, and learn to navigate this difficult gap. JV2 is successful in that 90% of our graduates (from the 13 years that the course has run) are currently working in the dance industry.