Nourish: A Public Dance to Feed Your Senses is a 60 minute public dance engagement that invites visitors to claim their place with choreographer and performer Jess Roseman. With affirmations and eye contact, she and viewers refocus their mind and body while discovering exactly how they want to move in the moment. Performed in silence, Jess plays a select playlist to herself through headphones to mark time, and change her motivations to interact with the environment.

Commissioned by Now + There in front of Juan Obando’s Summer Sets installation in Faneuil Hall’s Dock Square. Obando’s scrim omits the existing statue of Samuel Adams in a life size trompe l’oeil life size photograph which creates space for the public to reimagine their own legacies.

While performing her welcoming solo dance, pedestrians became curious. Some stopped briefly to smell the fresh Russian Sage, to sway, breathe a little deeper, to twirl, or perhaps to take a photo. Many made eye contact and smiled with Jess as they continued on their way. For Roseman, Nourish: A Public Dance to Feed Your Senses was a significant performance opportunity to get grounded and connect with others in such a popular gathering space.

Throughout Obando’s monthlong installation, protesters gathered in front of Boston City Hall to urge lawmakers to change the name of Faneuil Hall to a more inclusive one.