Jane Comfort of Oak Ridge, Tennessee is an American

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, and

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

. She is the founder and artistic director of Jane Comfort and Company based in

New York, NY New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

Biography

Jane Comfort earned a B.A. in Painting from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

before finding her way to dance. After two years in the Peace Corps in Venezuela, she moved to New York and began studying with

Merce Cunningham Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...

. She performed with a number of downtown choreographers, including David Gordon, Dana Reitz, Kenneth King, and Jamie Cunningham, before founding her own company in 1978. She has collaborated with visual artists, composers, spoken word artists, DJ's, puppeteers, and dancers to create dance theater works that integrate text, movement, politics, and explicitly "un-dance-like" theatrical scenarios. Her work has been produced in Europe, South America, and throughout the United States. Comfort has never shied from relevant social issues and her work gives voice to those afflicted by these issues: women, gays and lesbians, the homeless, the disabled, and the abused.

Choreography

Jane Comfort has choreographed many works for

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...

stage as well as off-Broadway, Broadway, and opera stages.

Jane Comfort and Company

* ''Steady Shift'' (1978) * ''Sign Story'' (1979) * ''Eatless Textures'' (1981) * ''Incorrect Translations'' (1982) * ''Artificial Horizon'' (1983) * ''Four Screaming Women'' (1984) * ''TV Love'' (1985) * ''Cliffs Notes: Macbeth'' (1986) * ''Portrait'' (1989) * ''Deportment: South'' (1990) * ''Deportment: North'' (1991) * ''Faith Healing'' (1993) * ''S/He'' (1995) * ''Three Bagatelles for the Righteous'' (1996) * ''Underground River'' (1998)

Bessie Award The New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessie Awards, are awarded annually for exceptional achievement by independent dance artists presenting their work in New York City. The broad categories of the awards are: choreography, ...

* ''Asphalt'' (2001) * ''Persephone'' (2004)' * ''Fleeting Thoughts: Mr. Henderson's 3AM'' (2006) * ''An American Rendition'' (2008) * ''Beauty'' (2012) * ''Altiplano'' (2015) * ''You Are Here'' (2016) * ''40th Anniversary Retrospective'' (2018)

for Best Revival Performance

Choreography Credits

* ''Passion'' (1994) Original Broadway Musical, Plymouth Theatre, NY * ''Amour'' (2002) Original Broadway Musical,

Music Box Theatre The Music Box Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 239 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1921, the Music Box ...

, NY * ''Wilder'' (2003) Original Off-Broadway Musical,

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit American Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. ...

, NY * ''Much Ado About Nothing'' (2004) Shakespeare in The Park, Central Park, NY * ''Salome'' (2006) Opera,

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox (Chicago opera), Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, w ...

Awards

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

2016, 2018, 2019 * New York Dance and Performance Award (

) 1998, 2018 *

Creative Capital Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has co ...

Performing Arts Award 2000 *

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

2010 * American Dance Guild Lifetime Achievement Award 2018

Collaborators

Comfort has worked with several artists to produce multidisciplinary

dance theater Concert dance (also known as performance dance or theatre dance in the United Kingdom) is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and perf ...

works throughout her career. Her past collaborators include Tigger Benford,

Arthur Elgort Arthur Elgort (born June 8, 1940) is an American fashion photographer best known for his work with '' Vogue'' magazine. Early life and education Elgort was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to Sophie (née Didimamoff) and Harry Elgort (April 10, ...

Carl Hancock Rux Carl Hancock Rux () is an American poet, playwright, singer-songwriter, novelist, essayist, as well as multidisciplinary performance installation artist. His work includes sound and image installation, photography, and performative lectures. He ...

Joan La Barbara Joan Linda La Barbara (born June 8, 1947) is an American vocalist and composer known for her explorations of non-conventional or "extended" vocal techniques. Considered to be a vocal virtuoso in the field of contemporary music, she is credited ...

, Steve Miller,

Toshi Reagon Toshi Reagon (born January 27, 1964) is an American musician of folk, blues, gospel, rock and funk, as well as a composer, curator, and producer. Early life Born January 27, 1964 in Atlanta, Georgia, Reagon grew up with her parents Bernice Joh ...

Keith Sonnier Keith Sonnier (July 31, 1941 – July 18, 2020) was a postminimalist sculptor, Performance art, performance artist, video and light artist. Sonnier was one of the first artists to use light in sculpture in the 1960s. With his use of neon in combin ...

DJ Spooky Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American Electronic music, electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics "illbient" or "trip hop". ...

, and puppeteer

Basil Twist Basil Twist is a New York City-based puppeteer who is known for his underwater puppet show, "''Symphonie Fantastique''". He was named a MacArthur Fellowship recipient on September 29, 2015. Personal Life and work Originally from San Francisco, B ...

References

* Berg, Peggy ''International Dictionary of Modern Dance''. St. James Press, 1998. * Smith, Amanda (July 1999)
"Sassy, Intelligent, Provocative, and Funny"
''Dance Magazine''.

Citations

External links

Jane Comfort and CompanyArchival footage of Jane Comfort and Company performing '' Underground River'' in 2011 at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comfort, Jane Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American choreographers