In this community chat, Djassi DaCosta Johnson took participants through her journey from Modern dancer to Multidisciplinary artist, with local stops at the historic Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and Dance Theater of Harlem. Djassi showed participants how to “choreograph” their own artistic path and write a poetic artist statement expressing all that you are, while fully rejecting the notion you need to be any less.
FEATURED VIDEOS:
PROMPT: ARTIST STATEMENT FOR #JACKMASTERS
Write an artist statement, starting with “I Am…”, that proudly claims all that you are. Check out some of the amazing artist statements our community wrote!
RECOMMENDED VIEWING:
- Djassui’s Vimeo Channel
- Bethania Ingrid 4: Mini documentary on the Brazillian Continuum at The Dance Theater of Harlem
- “ACOSTA DANZA, CUBA!” EXCERPT: Documentary Short profiling 6 dancers from the world-renowned classical ballet company, ACOSTA DANZA
Djassi DaCosta Johnson is a native New Yorker, classically trained modern dancer, choreographer, photographer, filmmaker, designer, writer, Doula and Womb Healer. She holds a BA in Anthropology from Barnard and an MFA in Dance, New Media & Technology from NYU Tisch as a Dean’s Fellow. Ms. DaCosta Johnson has taken photos and published writings throughout her touring career and time living abroad as a dancer & choreographer, in both Brazil and then Italy for 7 years, working on film & television. She has toured, apprenticed and performed with MOMIX, Dance Brazil, Earl Mosley, Bill T. Jones, Hernando Cortez and Urban Bush Women among others. She has choreographed and performed in music videos for Joan Baez and Gloria Gaynor among others, as well as as an actor in films including The Intern & Bolden! Djassi is passionate about what she calls “filming the moving body” and in addition to dance films and choreography for the camera, she produces documentaries on pioneers of color in the ballet and modern dance worlds and has two small documentaries on dance in Cuba, and the Brazilian presence at the Dance Theater of Harlem. As a solo performance artist she has collaborated with visual artists and jazz musicians for performance pieces and site-specific works with PERFORMA and Arts for Art in NYC, as well as throughout Europe and South America. Ms. DaCosta Johnson is currently an Assistant Professor of Dance, building the first dance program at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Croix. She continues to create art, do solo performance work, photography, make dance films and write for KINFOLK, {DIYdancer}, The Daily News, TRACE and Playbill among other outlets. Her storytelling, whether through movement, words, images or film sprouts from her dance roots in NYC, her passion for, and the intricate art of reaching people’s intellect and heart through the moving body.