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IDENTIFICATION AND BIO: A choreographer and AIDS activist, Jason Childers conceived and coordinated Dancing For Our Lives: A Benefit in Support of Persons with AIDS, the first major AIDS benefit featuring choreographers and dancers at P.S. 122 in 1986. He first became seriously interested in dance at Ohio University, where he earned his B.F.A. in dance in 1980. After moving to New York, Childers worked with Kenneth Rinker and Laura Dean while beginning to show his own choreography. An early series, Building the Gates, was based on Auguste Rodin's Gates of Hell. His work of the 1990s was performed in tandem with his AIDS activism and an interest in Butoh dance and meditation. During that period, he frequently worked with Poppo & the GoGo Boys, a 'New Age Butoh' performance group directed by Poppo Shiraishi. He has not danced since 1996 but has been pursuing a singing career.
KEY CONTACT PERSON(S)/EXECUTOR OF ESTATE:
Mimi Goese, friend
HUMAN REPOSITORIES OF THE WORK
VIDEO DOCUMENTATION
Avant-Garde-Arama Busts Out (1991)—compilation videorecording presented by Performance Space 122; choreographic excerpt of the improvisational piece entitled The Kiss, co-created and performed by Jason Childers and Patti Bradshaw with music by Soft Cell ("Tainted Love"), Carl Stahling; videotaped in performance at Performance Space 122, New York, on 8 June; two 3/4 in. videocassettes (119 min.); call number MGZIC 9-4751. Avant-Garde-Arama Sees the Light (1987)—compilation videorecording presented by Performance Space 122; choreographic excerpt of Molded in Time first of (Gates of Hell series), choreographed and performed by Jason Childers; James Lo on drums and a soundtrack of a Mark DiSuvero sculpture installation at Storm King; videotaped in performance at Performance Space 122, New York, on 6 June; one ¾ in. videocassette (55 min.); call number MGZIC 9-4525. Did she cry too clearly? (1992-93)—formulated improvisation created and performed by Jason Childers with soundtrack created by Jason Childers including sounds of a Mark Di Suvero sculpture installation at Storm King, and excerpts from the films The Birds and Carrie; videotaped in performance in the Movement Research @ Judson Church Monday night series, New York, on 13 January 1992; one ½ in. videocassette (20 min.); call number MGZIA 4-4552. Did she cry too clearly? (1992-93)—formulated improvisation created and performed by Jason Childers with soundtrack created by Jason Childers including sounds of a Mark Di Suvero sculpture installation at Storm King, and excerpts from the films The Birds and Carrie; videotaped in performance at Performance Space 122, New York, on 17 September 1993; one ½ in. videocassette (20 min.); call number MGZIA 4-4551. Food 4 Thought (1996)—a benefit for neighborhood food distribution programs presented by the Danspace Project; executive director, Laurie Uprichard; curated by Michelle Dortignac; recorded 3 February at St. Marks Church; includes choreography by Jason Childers of Papillon; music by Moby and Mimi Goese (Deep Forest; Into the Blue [Summer Night Mix]), remixed by Jon Spencer; danced by Jason Childers and Tymberly Canale; 16 min.; call number MGZIA 4-2901. It is the she of me that loves his she (1994)—choreography and formulated improvisation by Jason Childers; danced by Patti Bradshaw, Celeste Hastings and Jason Childers; music by Maurice Ravel (excerpts from "Trio for Piano, violin and cello" from the film "Un Coeur en Hiver"); videotaped in performance, part of "Another One Night Stand," at the (formerly) Gay & Lesbian Community Center, New York, on 24 June; one ½ in. videocassette (25 min.); call number MGZIA 4-4559. Molded in Time (first of Gates of Hell series) (1987)—choreographed and performed by Jason Childers; soundtrack of a Mark DiSuvero sculpture installation at Storm King; videotaped in performance 1) in an AGLAIA Dance Productions Showcase at Middle Collegiate Church, New York, on 13 February; 2) at the opening reception of Walk On/Sit Down/Go Through at Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, NY, on 17 May; one ½ in. videocassette (25 min.); call number MGZIA 4-4554. New Stuff (1989)—compilation videorecording presented by Performance Space 122 and including choreographic excerpt of The Butchers: Highway, High Heels, Sex Clubs and Souls, choreographed by Kumiko Kimoto [a.k.a. Kusilja Wah] in collaboration with Bob Bellamy, Jason Childers, Celeste Hastings, and Richard Winberg (performed by above group); videotaped in performance at Performance Space 122, New York on 18 June; two 3/4 in. videocassettes (69 min.); call number MGZIC 9-4601. New Stuff presented by Performance Space 122 (1989)—includes Jason Childers's The Unheard; videotaped in performance at P.S. 122 18 June; two 3/4 in. videotapes (69 min.); call number MGZIC 9-4566.
PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION
MOVEMENT NOTATION
PRODUCTION MATERIALS
ORAL HISTORY:
PERSONAL PAPERS
IMMEDIATE NEEDS
OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION:
"Building the Gates (originally called Molded in Time) was inspired by AIDS. I was living in Paris. Having worked as a home-attendant for people with AIDS through the Red Cross, I had been hired to help care for someone who was being treated at the Pasteur Institut. I went to the Musée Rodin and found many of the tortured images I had seen in the men with AIDS I had cared for, not only on The Gates of Hell, but Cry and others as well." "Did she cry too clearly?... Though not specifically about AIDS, or anything for that matter, its energy and mindset are derived from the anger, sadness, and fear of those times and the incredible insanity of living, working and creating while being an AIDS activist." "It is the she of me that loves his she is a piece about loss; though stimulated by the final acceptance of a love that will not be, it also echoes of the pain of lost friends and loved ones."
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
Fading Shadows (1982)—premiered at P.S. 122, New York City. Self-Portraits and Song & Dance (1985)—premiered at P.S. 122, New York City, and performed at universities in London, England. Caught (1985)—for Martha Partridge Dance Company. To Give Self (1986)—premiered at "Dancing For Our Lives: A Benefit in Support of Persons with AIDS," P.S. 122, New York City. Building the Gates (1987-88)—performed at Socrates Sculpture Park, Dixon Place, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, and P.S. 122, New York City. The Unheard (1988)—premiered at P.S. 122, New York City. The Kiss (1991)—performed at The Roxy, Socrates Sculpture Park, and P.S. 122, New York City. Did she cry too clearly? (1992)—premiered in Movement Research at Judson Church, New York City, and later performed at P.S. 122 (1993), New York City. It is the she of me that loves his she (1994)—premiered at Dixon Place, New York City; and performed at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center, New York City. Papillon (1996)—premiered at Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church, New York City. |
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