Originally from the Piedmont Triad Region of North Carolina, Jessica began taking multidisciplinary dance classes as a youngin’ and quickly found a love for the communicative and expressive power of the art form. Growing up southern, Jessica was raised to be a self- determined woman and when she wanted to move north to Boston, she had her family’s support. All was well and good until conversation around this past year’s presidential election started to create rifts between states, landing this Somervillian resident at odds with the North Carolinians she loved most. In Stone Ground, Jessica explores relationships between object and performer, and she is most interested in the story these relationships might generate for each audience member. In her performative work, Jessica hopes to incite further communication across difficult landscapes in order to help heal, restore, and move our collective thinking forward - begging the question: will you meet me halfway?
Jessica Smith
