She recalls an idyllic childhood. “It was like paradise. I couldn’t imagine anything better because there was a lot of nature, a lot of sun,” she says. “My kibbutz was founded by poets and writers, so they were very much about personal expression and personal interpretation. The kibbutz was very agricultural so part of the education was showing respect to our surroundings.”
Originally trained in gymnastics and long-distance running, Vardimon came to dance at the relatively late age of 14. She says this helped develop the motivation and discipline needed for a career in dance.
“I studied everything: I trained in classical ballet, contemporary and improvisation which was a strong strand in our education, so creative work was right there from the beginning, alongside technique.”
For five years she danced with the Kibbutz Dance Company, where she was encouraged to develop her own choreographic skills. In 1995, after winning a choreographic competition run by the British Council in Tel Aviv, she travelled to London to present her work. Two years later she founded her own company, and since then has won numerous awards. In 2006 she was made an Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells, joining an elite band of artists whose work represents a core part of every season. Her work also features on the A Level Dance syllabus.
She describes her creations as “very theatrical but also extremely physical. I always like to explore the dialogue between dance and theatre. I’m interested in working with performers who can use their entire capacity to convey a story or the subject matter that I’m talking about. When I talk about entire capacity, I mean physically, vocally, emotionally and intellectually. So we try to work on those four levels in terms of finding layers of communication with the audience.”
It is not easy to find dancers who can fulfil these demands, as most dance schools do not prepare students to work in this way, so seven years ago Jasmin founded her own training programme called JV2. The professional development diploma course aims to create more versatile performers, and graduates are now dancing with her company as well as with other companies around the world.
Verdimon’s many works tackle a variety of subjects, from a magical re-telling of the Pinocchio story to 7734, a gruelling look at the Holocaust.
“7734 was very difficult to make because it was very personal and a painful subject to deal with, but I felt at the time [in 2010] that it was the right time for me to explore it. The idea was to call the piece by a number to reference those six million Jews who lost their identity and became a number. I didn’t want the piece to have a name. One of the things the piece looks at is how different points of view can change the way you see things.” (And if you type the numbers 7734 into a calculator and then hold it upside down, it reads “HELL”.)
She no longer dances with her company. “I miss it but I made the decision when I became a mum, 13 years ago. I felt at that time that I could not be an artistic director of a company, choreograph, be a mum and perform at the level that I would want, so I had to compromise and I decided to give up dancing.”
In 2012 her company moved to its own creative home, called The Jasmin Vardimon Production Space, in Ashford, Kent. “My plans for the future are to create more work and to develop the education strand of the company. We just had fantastic news that we have received funding from the Arts Council and Kent County Council to develop our building. It is going to be a big creative hub, not just to create work but also to educate, so it will be like a laboratory for creation and research.”
During the past 20 years, she has created work in the UK, but Medusa was born on the coast of Spain. The beautiful surroundings gave her ample inspiration as she watched the jellyfish in the waters (medusa means jellyfish in many languages, including Hebrew).
As well as re-examining Greek myth, the new work reflects on marine pollution and what Jasmin calls some parallels between gender sexual politics and environmental politics. “Medusas have been floating in our seas for millions of years. Global warming actually makes them flourish. They may be one of the only creatures that survive global warming.”
Resilient and strong – perhaps calling a woman a Medusa is not such an insult after all.
Medusa is at Sadler’s Wells, from October 22-24. For further details, click here.
