Jessica Jobaris

Performer, choreographer and instructor

Jessica Jobaris, Choreographer & Instructor
Jessica Jobaris, Choreographer & Instructor

Jessica’s mission is to raise the importance of empathy for modern audiences and theatre by initiating adventurous communication with each other. Nurturing risk, mystery, absurdity, sensation of the body, and emancipation through imagination.

Within the hysteria of pop-culture, the magic of the mundane, and the austerity of ancient rituals, Jessica Jobaris creates performances that research:

How do we interact with life and each other; out of freedom, love or fear? How is this embodied in our relationship with our world and our sentient bodies?

Striving to develop a language made of duality, chaos, connection and disruption, her performances invite perception into the Mystery of our aliveness. The use of film, animation, text, props and natural elements create a bewildering web of humor and voodoo.

© PHOTO
© PHOTO BY JENS WAZEL 2016

To make conscious the Universal within the Individual; researching and reconstructing understandings of the relationships we create with objects and each other, from the surface of skin to spirit. Performance is not always what is important; sometimes it is just the act of doing, or becoming. Works have been seen on lampposts as graffiti tag, under piles of dirt in abandoned farms fields, tucked in sand dunes, city parks, train stations, schools, airplane hangars, and the usual black box theatre.

Force

That which compells us into action. The Unseen within.

Jessica Jobaris & General Magic was the literal climax to the festival's building of foreplay of ideals, themes, angst and lush imagery.


Jen Scholten, Thru Media

© PHOTO BY TIM SUMMERS 2015

The piece left a frenetic buzz deep in the gut, appealing to our wild, primal natures


Seattle Dances

Under the direction of artistic director Jessica Jobaris, General Magic is the fluid group of performers who are key collaborators on her creative projects. A diverse range of backgrounds, bodies, ages and identities facilitate the investigation and practices of vulnerability and resiliency, absurdity and the sacred.

General Magic examines the intersection of everyday Life to the Supernatural world, using aspects of ceremonies, rites of passage, personal ritual, shamanism, bodywork, meditation, inebriation, dance training, BDSM, music, improvisation, humor - all allowing us to listen deeply, push our limitations and heighten our intuition.

© PHOTO BY JENS WAZEL 2016

Teaching

Dance, like life, has a lot to do with perception. How we perceive our life experiences through our bodies (mental, physical, emotional, and intuitive) is the cornerstone of Jessica's teaching.

Movement expression is one of the most natural aspects of our humanity. That said, over the past 10 years, Jessica has been teaching dance and movement to nearly every demographic, from professional dancers, to actors, to pedestrians, and to incarcerated youth and adults. Jessica has taught at the University level through the community level, in public and private schools, both internationally and throughout the United States since 2006.

From 2007-2015 she was the movement director for Freehold's Engaged Theater Tour, leading workshops taking Shakespeare into state prisons. Jessica has been guest instructor of dance at Cornish College of the Arts (2007-present), Seattle Pacific University (2006, 2012), Dock 11 (2009, Berlin, DE), Emmanuel Kirche Improv Series (2009, Berlin, DE), University of Utah (2008), The Evergreen School (2011-present, Seattle) and Velocity Dance Center (2011-present). She also holds a 250 hour yoga certification, and Level one Expressive Arts Therapy certification from Anna Halprin's Tamalpa Institute.

Movement Practice Class Description

Through the act of movement, her classes encourage inner freedom by asking participants to be present inside uncertainty as they confront difficult improvisation scores and imaginal circumstances. Teaching from an intuitive as well a technical platform, students research the verb “to be” more than “to do.” Using ancient practices such as trance, shaking, rolling and vocalizing, BDSM, imagination, improvisation, release technique, and Expressive Arts Movement Therapy, there is a balance of experiential play and rigor. Jessica's classes are said to be kind, yet challenging, and serious work is met with a sense of humor.

Class Descriptions
  • "Unf**ky" Yourself / A Dance - Movement Workshop/ Audition Ya. I said it. This workshop is about unf**cking yourself. Shoes off, scream on. Run it clean through you. Research touch, and awaken the senses. Safely and supportively tempting emotional & physical boundaries through movement. This 4-hour dance/movement workshop is part movement & meditation, part *EXA*, part exploration of permeability as we witness and be witnessed through altered states of being. Shake the shit out of yourself! Find "Inner Resources" and opposing forces and you might walk out with a bit of a cleaner bite. This workshop allows folks to explore with full permission. No dance training necessary! Only one pre-requisite: to be sensitive to the moment, and others upon entering the space. First and foremost, this is a dance workshop open to all who want a different kind of movement experience. This can also serve as an audition for those who are curious about the next General Magic dance-theater work, but you do not have to audition to participate.
  • Workshop: Raising Hell is an improvisational 3 hour workshop playing with polarity themes of brutality/mercy, satisfaction/the impossible, and savagery/grace. Moving from imagination to belief, diving into touch, gravity, and the supernatural environment, Raising Hell reveals the spirits among us and moving through us, and invites us closer to our internal paradise.
  • Workshop: The Reckless Moment In this 2 hour class we take the vulnerable body as a point of entry for insight and self discovery. Through movement we approach unorthodox practices that shake loose our inhibitions, wakening sensuality, intimacy, and self-expression. By introducing emotional risk and some physical risk in the creative process, we open up the possibility of finding pleasure in absurdity and humor in humility. Boundaries are intentionally surfaced to see what our reflexes reveal: is there a more authentic artist underneath? Here we lovingly honor ourselves and each other in the reckless moments as a means of creative liberation in the performance sphere.
  • Yoga (Hatha and Vinyasa Styles, Levels 1-4 Weekly classes at The Yoga Tree.
  • Intro to Yoga These classes are a welcoming place to learn the basics or brush up on fundamentals. Based on the classic and ancient practices of yoga, you’ll learn the details of alignment and how to use your breath in twenty of the most common "asana"/poses. You will also learn general guidelines to keep you safe and confident as you progress. These classes move at a slower pace, with plenty of opportunity for questions and individual attention. No specific fitness level is required as you'll be encouraged to work within your own abilities and limitations.
  • 108 Sun Salutations 108 has long been considered a sacred number in yoga meaning “Great Joy”. The Sun Salutation is series of 12 yoga postures energizing the solar plexus region, an important center in the body, connected to many energy channels including digestion, circulation and respiration. This solar plexus chakra, Manipura, is the seat of our will power, our practical intelligence, our individuality, and self-control. This is a practice that connects us to our center, building focus, strength, willpower, and inner resilience.
  • The Moving Body, The Moving Word (A Yoga + Writing Workshop) Do you crave to write for your own sake, to get intimate with your creative mind and heart? In this workshop, we will engage in creative practices and physical asanas designed to bring forth awareness, inspiration, and curiosity. Interwoven yoga sequences and writing exercises will invite us to move below the surface, shifting from thinking into "Being" to capture and integrate new insights. Through asanas sequenced for introspection/pratyhara and self-study/svadhyaya, we will, in a very playful and supportive atmosphere, dig deep, accessing your inner terrain, to excavate what is waiting to be known.
  • Expressive Arts Therapy Workshops for Groups and Private Clients Expressive Arts Therapy is cutting edge multimodality therapy that cultivates awareness and through a variety of approachable expressions such as writing, drawing, dancing and music. One need not be skilled in any of these, which lends The EXA Therapy modo: Low-skill, High Sensitivity. These workshops have also been successful in team building and generating creative business ideas and solutions in the corporate world, as well as for personal development.

  • Interested in a class?

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"Jessica’s teaching style and asana sequencing are crafted so the student can experience yogic philosophy in action during her classes." - Ann Zitzmann

"I really like the contradiction, and then to have the ability to move between contradictions within the class. It was so refreshing to have such a different approach to an improvisation class. I was able to find a sense of freedom that I’ve only experienced while dancing in Germany." - Eliza Larson

Upcoming Events

April 21st @ 3:30pm

Open Studio

On The Boards, Seattle Washington

Event link

May 20th & May 21st @ 7pm

12 Minutes Max

Base: Experimental Arts + Space

Event link

November 7th-16th 2019

Orphans, Thieves, and other Unlived Lives

Base Experimental Arts & Space

Event link

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