Meet Jess Humphrey | Dancemaker, Professor of Dance, Wife, Mother.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jess Humphrey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jess, how do you think about risk?
Risk is like a beacon. If something starts to feel risky, I’m probably getting closer to some kind of catalyst. My late contact improvisation teacher Nancy Stark Smith taught in a way that sensitized me to the threshold between risk and recklessness. Over time, I’ve learned that listening while you leap is key. If I remain receptive when taking risks, if I continue to take in information from my own and others’ bodies as well as the environment, I am less likely tip into recklessness.

Collaboration softens risky moves. Some share risk with you, like my collaborator of 13 years, Eric Geiger, who would go with me (almost) anywhere, and me with him. Then there are collaborators who offer infusions of support like Sandra Ruiz, who holds up a mirror to reflect back to me parts of my own power anytime they are obscured by fear of risk.

My teacher, Deborah Hay, responds to moments of hesitation with, “Ready. Fire. Aim.” In the studio, it feels like a trick for interrupting overthinking. Over time, it’s taught me to make the first move, then let what happens serve as inspiration and support for what’s next.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My dances don’t fit neatly into any category. They are typically too experimental for the mainstream and too traditional for experimental spaces. I love to make things that defy categorization but are somehow still super accessible, even to those who don’t know anything about dance.

I got to where I am professionally by prioritizing dancing over all kinds of things that normal people do. It wasn’t easy, but the rewards are constant. Every dancemaking process has transcendent moments and some are transformative. When it gets tough I just take it one rehearsal, one dance, one performance at a time and remember the ultimate ego-softener from my teacher Deborah Hay: “You’re entering into a process that’s already happening”. I’ve learned that I have to show up fully for the work that’s meant to come through me and that means taking really good care of myself, body, mind, and spirit.

I want the world to know about Portal, a transborder dance experiment I’ve been working on at the US/Mexico border and Remember Machine, a series of dances with my daughter, Hazel. There’s also Solo Two, a reconstruction of a dance from the 1960s by Deborah Hay, happening at the Getty the first weekend in October.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My best friends are people I dance with, so we would likely spend a lot of time in one of my favorite spaces in the world: ENS 200, a massive, beautiful dance studio at SDSU that I call the magic room. We would buy beautiful food at Jimbo’s downtown or Lazy Acres in Mission Hills and get a lot of sleep to support deep dancing and conversations. My immediate family is a riot, so we would definitely spend some time with them, likely at Coronado Dog Beach. We might get acupuncture at The Healing Point. I would want the week to be rejuvenating.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Deborah Hay (Teacher)
Hay is well known in the concert dance world as one of the main artists who in the 1970s instigated what came to be called “postmodern dance” in the US. Her work has continued to develop over the past 50+ years and I find her questions and choreographic frames to be portals to spiritual experiences in dance.

The Matter with Things by Iain McGilchrist (Book)
This book is a massive, interdisciplinary work of art.

Amanda Turull (Student, Colleague)
Amanda is wise far beyond her years. In her teens she was a student in one of the first classes I taught at a community college when I was just out of graduate school. Now, almost 15 years later, she’s a therapist, a valued colleague, and one of my closest friends. An artist and mover at heart, she is my go-to when I want talk about how and why dancing heals us.

Briseida López Inzunza (collaborator in Tijuana) + Sandra Ruiz 🙂
Bris is one of the most beautiful performers I’ve ever had the pleasure of dancing with. She’s kind, humble, and not the kind of person to have a website, so underrecognized.

Website: https://jesshumphrey.com/

Instagram: @jessreneehumphrey

Linkedin: Jess Humphrey

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jess.humphrey.9