Whole body in my ear
Jesi Cook
June 8, 1pm & 4pm
The Arts Center at Governors Island, Upper Gallery
FREE (Reservation Requested)
Accessibility: The Upper Gallery can be accessed by elevator via the lower cafe space or stairs.
Whole body in my ear is a performance in which sound and body emerge as one fluid and dynamic textural form. The work sees performers splice and patch text, movement, and sound scores in creating new languages and porous realities. This endurance-based auditory fantasy pushes toward dissonance, using it as a means to explore and amplify otherness. The scores build, heighten, and erode an ouroboric circuit—with patterns repeating, leaking, and breaking apart throughout a shifting sculptural landscape.
Performers: Jesi Cook, Ayano Elson, Amelia Heintzelman, Mina Nishimura
Live Sound Mixing: Jeff Aaron Bryant
Lighting Design: Daniele Sarti
Jesi Cook is an artist-in-residence with LMCC's Extended Life Dance Development Program supported, in part, by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Jesi Cook is a choreographer working at the intersection of sound and movement. Using a cross-disciplinary process steeped in improvisation, her work considers the potentials of the body engaging with the physicality of sound and materials. Her performances and installations allow an investigation into her intrigue with endurance and labor in discordance to space and time. Central to her practice is a deep engagement with her personal lineage in relation to Korean Shamanism and post-war ritual practices of South Korea. Jesi has been an Artist-in-Residence at Movement Research, MoMA PS1 Performance Dome, PAM, New York Live Arts Fresh Tracks, and AUNTS. Her performance works have been commissioned and presented in venues such as Roulette Intermedium, Movement Research at Judson Memorial Church, TSA Gallery New York, and Pieter Space in Los Angeles.
Jesi Cook is presented as part of the 2024 River to River Festival, with the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels. Profoundly attached to the world of dance since its origins, the High Jewelry Maison strengthens its commitment with Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels.
Guided by the values of creation, transmission and education, this initiative aims to support artists and institutions in presenting choreographic heritage, while also promoting new productions.
Since its launch in 2020, it has promoted numerous dance companies for their creations as well as the presentation of multiple performances around the world.
The program is complemented each year by major events, including the Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival, whose first edition took place in London in March 2022.
This support further extends to awareness-raising actions focused on dance culture for the broadest possible audience, professionals and amateurs alike.