Buzz
Dancer/choreographer Jessica Roseman and saxophonist and composer Jorrit Dijkstra have been collaborating improvisationally in Boston for five years. Roseman and Dijkstra dialogue with sound, rhythm, touch, weight, expression, and space to compose abstract, theatrical stories together. Their ongoing improvisational exchange Buzz draws as heavily upon both free improvisation practices in music and in dance, as it does on relationship dynamics and awareness. The duo practices being fully present with each other, and while at play discover new manifestations of that presence. In their trusting partnership, each artist’s creative inquiry pushes the other to together expand their limits of performance. “Buzz” inherently explores the politics of our identities in space together. What does it mean for a white Dutch American man and a biracial Jamaican American Jewish woman to share the stage? How do we communicate as equals?
Over time, the duets have come to explore the fine edges of humor and theatricality. There is something magical for us in the moment of not knowing or seeing how each other is responding. We explore how these random instances affect our interrelationship, relative to the space. Will we touch, or won’t we? Will you as viewers see something we don’t? Will you laugh even if we’re not overtly clowning? What happens when we simplify our roles even further to two bodies in space and one instrument?
Buzz has been adapted for large proscenium stages, outdoor site specific areas, and for small spaces. We have been presented by Wesleyan University, Tiny & Short at the Dance Complex, the Lilypad’s Cutout Series, Driff Music Fest, at Constellation in Chicago, and at the Somerville Theater for the ArtBeat Festival in Davis Square, MA, presented by the Somerville Arts Council, in Ten Tiny Dances® in September 2019, presented by the Dance Complex. We were presented by Non-Event at Home while under quarantine in June, 2020, for the premiere of Buzz’ video collaboration with filmmaker Julie Mallozzi, which we shot just days before Covid changes hit Boston on March 10, 2020. In April, 2021, Non-Event presented Buzz again in a fundraiser for BAGLY (Boston Alliance for LGBTQ+ Youth). We explored the audio and self care aesthetics of ASMR YouTubers. Playing with the frameworks and intimacy of Zoom, we considered what it means to make connections from afar.
Buzz presented by Non-Event April, 2021
Buzz Presented by Dance Complex in Ten Tiny Dances® - September, 2019
Watch →
BUZZ
Improvisational Duets for Dance and Saxophone
Filmed at The Dance Complex, Cambridge, MA on March 10, 2020 (just days before the state shut down; edited under quarantine).
Videography & Editing: Julie Mallozzi