John Jasperse has been working as a dance artist in New York City since graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in 1985. He founded John Jasperse Company, later renamed John Jasperse Projects, in 1989 and has since created 18 evening-length works through this non-profit structure as well as numerous commissions for other companies including Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project, Batsheva Dance Company, and Lyon Opera Ballet, as well as two co-productions with William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt and Forsythe Company.
John Jasperse Projects has been presented in 26 US cities and 29 countries by presenters including BAM, Joyce Theater, New York Live Arts, Dance Theater Workshop, The Kitchen, Walker Art Center, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, American Dance Festival, La Biennale di Venezia, Dance Umbrella London, Montpellier Danse, and Tanz im August Berlin. He is the recipient of a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award, two Bessie awards (in 2014 and 2001), and multiple fellowships from US Artists, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Tides/ Lambent Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts in addition to numerous grants and awards for John Jasperse Projects.
Jasperse has been on the faculty and taught at many distinguished institutions nationally and internationally, including Hollins University MFA, UC Davis, Movement Research, P.A.R.T.S. (Brussels, Belgium), SEAD (Salzburg, Austria), Centre National de la Danse (Lyon, France), and Danscentrum (Stockholm, Sweden).
Early in his career, Jasperse performed with Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s Rosas, Lisa Kraus, Jennifer Monson, and various other dance artists in New York City. Jasperse is co-founder of CPR—Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn, NY and serves as an honorary member of its Board of Directors. Jasperse was appointed the Director of the Dance Program at Sarah Lawrence College in 2016.