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Web Premiere of Joanne Nerenberg's award-winning documentary, BODY JOB
By Christine Jowers/Follow @cmmjowers on Instagram
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Published on February 23, 2010
A Meditation on Physicality in The Workplace
The Dance Enthusiast is delighted to exclusively host the Web Premiere of Joanne Nerenberg’s award winning documentary, BODY JOB, a meditation on physicality in the workplace. Watch it and you will see that there are dancers everywhere
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Joanne Nerenberg has always been interested in bringing movement ideas into the world. She began her career as a dancer and choreographer in the thriving San Francisco dance scene of the 90's, working with OnSite Dance Company, KneeJerk Dance Project, Jon Weaver, and her own Gravytrain Dance Performance Troupe. In 1997, she relocated to New York City where she worked with the choreographers Jennifer Monson and Yvonne Meir and became a Gyrotonic instructor. It was in New York that she got her first full-time office job, as the in-house video producer for an exhibit at the Brooklyn Children's Museum. There was a lot of time spent seated behind a desk. It was stifling. Nerenberg found herself craving activity: searching for anyway to walk around while performing her duties, shifting up and down to get coffee, even performing handstands in the hallway. "Sitting In Your Chair is not a Risk-Free Endeavor," Dr. James Levine,Endocrinologist and Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, also lead inventor of The Office of The Futurefrom Joanne Nerenberg's BODY JOB ( see film below)Bodyjob from The Dance Enthusiast on Vimeo. |
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One morning during the reverse commute from her home in Manhattan to Brooklyn, she was inspired by the moves of a traffic cop at the intersection of Tillary and Flatbush. He looked like he was dancing. Nerenberg describes the man as “an incredibly lively figure channeling spiritual energy into an otherwise dreary traffic jam.” What he was doing was “ bursting out of the envelope”. (Nerenberg is attracted to people who burst out of their envelopes.) She knew she had to get video footage of him doing his thing, and, she did. The footage became part of a dance TV show for kids called “move It!” which was optioned to Disney. A seed was planted. Nerenberg, wanting to communicate the idea that movement is essential, wished to continue to explore the world of folks who see their jobs through a highly physical lens. In order to communicate her passion to a broad audience, she knew that she would need to find extraordinary examples of people who fully employ their bodies at work. As it turned out, she did. Movement permeates the lives of the three subjects of Body Job: Reverend James Forbes Jr., President and Founder of the Healing of the Nations Foundation of New York and former Senior Minister Emeritus of the Riverside Church; Dr. Bill Kazokas aka “Farmer Bill," farmer and teacher at Rancho La Puerta Spa in Mexico; and Dr. James Levine, endocrinologist and Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic who, by the way, is also lead inventor of The Office of The Future-- a fully functioning office that resembles a gym. The men are so physically charismatic, each one could have been the subject of a full- length documentary. Nerenberg, who continues to teach dance at The Mark Morris Dance Group hopes her documentary will inspire people to re-think the way they approach working, perhaps incorporating more locomotion at the office. Walking meetings, anyone? Nerenberg claims she has had some of her best ideas while simply walking around. |
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