“For Jane Comfort’s dancers, every movement arises from an emotion or prepares us for one. Nothing looks too symbolic or virtuosic. Nothing is extraneous to the story. And through it all there is the pure beauty of dance, of bodies attuned to music, to one another and to the space they live in”
– The New York Times
While studying painting at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, during Jane Comforts senior year (1967) she saw a performance by Merce Cunningham, which became an instant inspiration to her. After spending two years in the Peace Corps with her husband in 1970 she moved to New York to begin studying dance with Merce Cunningham. She realized that she was tired of painting and that the idea of sitting and creating art in that manner bored her, which is why she wanted to begin dancing so badly. She tried to join Merce’s intermediate class but was actually kicked out and told she needed to be in the beginner class. She ended up studying with Merce for four years; her main goal was that she wanted to be in his company. Though, she did not want to just keep herself to one technique especially since she did not know what her future would be with Merce’s company, so she started auditioning and ended up joining James Cunningham’s company. Although Merce Cunningham had been the one to truly inspire and help Jane to persevere in dance, it was James Cunningham that has helped form the technique and brilliant ideas that Jane works with today. James worked with personalities, in Merce’s company they were quiet, well mannered, extremely professional, and you could not really express your personality. With James, Jane Comfort could combine improvisation, theatre, and dance creating a whole no world of art for her. This is where she gained her inspiration for her works today. She did not want her dancing to be so static and not relatable, she wanted to deal with real issues in a satirical and vibrant way.
Above is a picture of the brilliant Merce Cunningham, who Jane Comfort studied with in the beginning of her dance career.
""You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive"
-Merce Cunningham
I am inspired by the fact that Jane Comfort would move from a place of familiarity with Merce Cunningham to take a new challenge in her dancing career by working with James Cunningham. Had she not opened her horizons she would not be creating works like she is today.
Jane Comfort’s piece, “An American Rendition” premiered in 2008 and is based around the cultural explosion of reality television and how people are engrossed by the sad fake world they call “reality TV” and find it more exciting to see that sort of humiliation and idea of living than actual reality. A source I found that talks about reality television is from 2005, and is an article written by Noah Page titled, "Reality Television" and the American Reality that produces it.” Reality Television is purely about entertainment, shows are produced to please the audience and make a fool of those participating. It demonstrates the social and cultural defects in our society and shows how ratings and progression and success of the shows are more important than personal integrity. The article refers to this type of television as “vast wasteland,” which is engulfing society into a fake idea of reality, by considering such situations as being an okay singer and calling them an “idol.” Current society cares more about who will win on “Survivor” or who is going to be eliminated on “Americas Next Top Model” more so than they care about hunger and political issues circulating the world. The article discusses how reality television in this time has become a way of sensing that “The American Dream is just one contest away.”
In two pieces by Jane Comfort, “S/He” and “Department” both premiering in the 1990’s, she focuses on topics such as gender, race, and sexual hatred. I found an article by Loretta Ross titled, “White Supremacy in the 1990’s” which discusses the views of these issues in the time that these dances were created. In this time hatred groups were being made and reinforced to go against different races, genders, and sexualities. The groups that were once mainly formed by middle age white men and up were now increasing in younger generations. The hate groups were viewed more as extremists than a threat to society, which is why the issues ended up staying such a problem. One specific example is David Duke who was voted governor of Louisiana in 1992; he focused on white rights and made people believe their hatred was acceptable. The anti-gay issues of the 1990’s were consistent and needed to be challenged which is what Jane Comfort did in her works. This article was focused on showing how hatred and segregation was extremely present during the 1990’s and that once everyone can realize that all of the ideas of homophobia and racism come from the same underlying source, than changes can be made.
One of Jane Comfort’s pieces, “Three Bagatelles for the Righteous” is based around political and religious leaders, and the promises they make and the situations they are apart of. One cultural event in the 1990’s that may have been an inspiration to this work was the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky Scandal. Throughout the mid 90’s both Clinton and Lewinsky denied having an affair and it was a constant battle as to was the situation a public lie or truth. It was not till final court rulings in the late 90’s when Clinton finally admitted to giving false testimony in courts. The “affair” was a constant battle through his presidency causing obvious trust and loyalty issues.
I think it is amazing how Jane Comfort does not seem to fear anything. She does not try to hold back. I am so interested in all her works and everything she is producing because it is truth satirized and it is so much more real than any typical story based dance like many ballets or other such classical pieces.
The form and content of Jane Comforts work is focused around a combination of theatre and dance. Her work intertwines the collaboration and use of dance, vocals, acting, and even puppetry in order to display her intent. The content of her pieces deal with current issues or ideas throughout the world from homosexuality, to politics, to reality television (as seen in her piece, An American Rendition). She explores controversial topics and is able to challenge beliefs within her pieces. She uses satire and wit to poke fun at current society; pushing the envelope each time she creates a piece.
Her work has and is still continuously impacting concert dance. The way in which her creative and fertile mind tests the norm by using abstract beautiful movements opens an entirely new dimension to what dance is. The Village Voice has said, “Comfort faces brutal issues, uses words that are hard and offensive to hear, and doesn't try to heal any wounds. The acting/dancing performances are spectacular and right on the money.” She unlike many artists is not attempting to ignite hope and fearlessness to a brutal world in her dances; instead she is satirizing issues and allowing the audience to see what is happening in our world in an extreme way. She has impacted concert dance by sharing the truth, her dances express raw honesty and help to test our thoughts of present time. It is beyond dance with Jane, she brings everything to an entirely new spectrum. The New York Times said, “The guiding spirits behind the theater of mixed forms are often choreographers…Jane Comfort is one of the most fertile minds in this genre.” She is constantly creating pieces to challenge and create conversation and questioning, she has a brilliant mind that is constantly impacting the world of concert dance.
Jane Comforts work is constantly changing and thrives under challenges. The way she views the world is so abstract and so brilliant, and how she satirizes reality constantly challenges the audience. Her work plays a huge role in the development of dance in general, and she never gives up. She never sits back, she is always pushing forward in what she is creating and that is what is truly beautiful and inspiring about her as an artist. Jane Comfort is completely original and innovative, and it is thrilling to know that she is still creating pieces of genius to this day.
