Janessa Clark is a Swedish American choreographer, performer and installation artist based in New York. Her practice combines dance, movement, video, language, and social engagement to create live performance works, short films, and interactive environments.
"Like many artists right now, I find myself with more time to work on my art since I am sheltering in place. In some ways my world has gotten much smaller, but in other ways I feel unbounded. It is a disorienting time for me as a choreographer to be without my regular collaborators in the studio but it is an interesting challenge to make body-based work without bodies other than my own. It has forced me into new conditions of creativity in which I have to discover ways to bring my performers into a shared yet remote space. Our temporal framework has been disrupted in a way where these past weeks have flown by in a flash but also feel never-ending. This Strange Time is like a meditation, alternating between open, infinite space and a dust storm of thoughts and information. I feel encouraged that within the chaos we are finding our way and reflecting our experiences through art."
Janessa Clark New York, USA. April 21, 2020
Tiny Dance #30 (St. Petersburg, Russia). From the Tiny Dances Project (2019)
Full HD video, sound (concept, choreography, and cinematography by Janessa Clark)The Tiny Dances Project is an ongoing multidisciplinary endeavor weaving dance, video art, installation, performance, and co-authorship with the public. The project embodies anonymous letters sent from around the world. Some letters confess buried secrets while others reveal private moments, all of them weaving a tapestry of hidden experiences. For every letter received there is a dance. For every country or community visited, there is a new volume created.
Tiny Dance #29 (St. Petersburg, Russia). From the Tiny Dances Project (2019)
video, sound (concept, choreography, and cinematography by Janessa Clark)