The following are a collection of the remembrances submitted to the Forum. New ones will be added over time so please feel free to visit again.

Name: Conrad Alexandrowicz
Relationship: Audience member

I recall seeing Judy and her company perform at TWP in the mid-seventies when I was a dance student at York. I'd only ever seen ballet before, and this was my first exposure to contemporary dance. I remember seeing a piece called Tapestries, which I think was a trio, although I only recall Jarvis and Pam Grundy actually dancing. I found it so beautiful I cried!

I recall also seeing Three Women on that program. I loved it. She used Steve Miller band -- you mean, you could play characters in modern dance and use pop music? Wow!

A couple of years later I saw Clouds at that church on Avenue Road -- St. Paul's? -- and I was blown away -- they were making sounds! They even talked: "Vote for me!" You could DO that! I think this was a huge inspiration to me, as someone who would go on to specialize in my own form of theatrical dance, but I didn't know that at the time. Nor did I know then that she was a conduit for the aesthetic approaches of the German dance theatre, which had been such a huge influence on her as a dance artist.

The last time I saw Judy we were sharing a dressing room together at the Dance in Canada Conference at Harbourfront in, I think, 1983. I was doing one of my first solos, Johnny Get Angry. I could tell she was not doing well and was in deep trouble. She asked me, "Is your piece a tragedy or a comedy?" I told her that people seemed to find it very funny, although it got serious at the end. She paused for a moment, and said, "My piece is a tragedy." I found myself inexplicably moved, and didn't know what else to say.

I found it really hard to accept her death. I honour her as a true dance pioneer in this country, and as an artistic elder and progenitor. Thank-you for this exhibition!

Name: Denise Gismondi
Relationship: Fellow teaching student at Queen's University

Judy asked me to dance in her final solo concert in Kingston. I was in two dances with her, one where she was Blacklack. We created a story about two old ladies (former friends) meeting with each other after many years. I never felt so free to create as when I was working with her. I remember the process of experimenting with the movement, deciding what worked and what didn't work, putting it together, and finally presenting it. I have worked that way ever since. She made me really aware of my body language, gave me validation, not bad for someone with a metal rod attatched to her spine, afraid I would never dance again! I am a drama teacher now, and my students are not afraid to move, and to revel in whatever their bodies and minds have to say, no matter what they look like, or physical limitations. I was devasted when she died.

©2005, Dance Collection Danse
Jarvis Exhibition Curator: Pamela Grundy
Biography Text: Carol Anderson
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