ABOUT JESSICA'S INFORMAL SHOWING

Jessica Roseman, MIDDAY's March Rough Drafts artist, will present excerpts of a long solo dance, “Nourish - I’m on Fire,” which she will present at Arrow Street Arts on June 21 + June 22, 2024. Visit www.jessicaroseman.com to learn more..

A Note from the Choreographer

“Nourish - I’m on Fire” is a mythological biography about a magical extraordinary place, which if I described it to you, it would sound like fiction. This dance-in-process reveals hidden truths about a woman’s cyclical capacity to regenerate, produce life, and to retire and move to Florida over the course of a lifetime.

The dance stems from Nourish, my multiyear community based restorative practice of recognizing and choosing what you need in the moment, and from seven years of solo repertory.

By resourcing memory and invoking affirmations, I invoke a reckoning with perimenopause, stillbirth, and Black maternal health. My experiences with parenting twins, ancestry, privacy, shame, grief, and liberation all interplay. I theatrically prioritize states of being and relating by singing, miming, and inviting viewers to reflect on their experience. Comfortably relatable and at times humorous, “Nourish - I’m on Fire” aims to build an authentic relationship with the audience by revealing new worlds.

ABOUT JESSICA ROSEMAN

Jessica Roseman is a mother, choreographer, and movement educator. Her multi-year restorative practice NOURISH has earned numerous social justice grant awards, inviting deep physical connection to ourselves, each other, and our environment by recognizing and choosing what we need in the moment. Her solo dance performances address ancestry, identity, and wellness by incorporating techniques from her work as a Feldenkrais Practitioner, Gyrotonic Instructor, and massage therapist. Jess is excited and confounded by physical challenges, and revealing untold stories to make meaningful movement for a maturing body. She has been inspired and influenced by working with Bebe Miller, Deborah Hay, Lavinia Williams, and Eiko Otake.

Jess holds a BA in Dance and African American Studies from Wesleyan University, and in the 90’s she co-founded Prowess Dance Arts for women of color in New York. She was appointed to NEFA’s Regional Dance Development Initiative (RDDI) cohort to help build sustainable choreographic landscapes in New England. Jessica is the inaugural Artist in Residence at Lexington Community Farm, Cambridge Community Foundation’s Arrow Street Arts Fund, and recently was awarded a Studios at Mass MoCA Residency Fellowship. She is a proud mentor for the Asian American Ballet Project through the Network of Arts Administrators of Color / ArtsBoston. A New England States Touring Artist, Jessica performs, teaches, mentors, and lectures nationally. She lives in unceded territory of the Massachusett & Pawtucket people, known as Lexington, MA, with her twin teens.

ABOUT MIDDAY + ROUGH DRAFTS

Midday Movement Series ("MIDDAY") is a BIPOC-led grassroots initiative cultivating a new, diverse generation of dance leaders through professional development, mentorship, and advocacy.

MIDDAY's newest program, Rough Drafts, is a process-focused program supporting early (1-4 yr) and mid-career (4-10 yr) contemporary dance-makers to deepen their understanding of their own choreography and how to communicate to collaborators and audiences. From January-June, MIDDAY will host one monthly informal showing with our Rough Drafts artists. Our program will culminate with black box work-in-progress showcases on Saturday, July 13, at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM.