The daughter of a research scientist and a visual artist, it’s no wonder acclaimed artistic director and choreographer Jodi Lomask focuses her work on the nexus of science and the art of dance. The founder of performance company Capacitor in San Francisco, Lomask has collaborated with world-renowned research scientists to create original dance works that draw attention to critical environmental issues. “I am interested in affecting the relevance of dance in society,” Lomask says. “How can I make useful art and beautiful tools for environmental preservation?” Using her skills to shine a light on important issues, Lomask is a rare combination of an advocate for nature, a highly-regarded artist and performer, and a visionary who understands there are ways to communicate topics without words. “I believe in the creative process-specifically the pleasure of mind expansion and the cathartic creative experience. I like to offer creative teams the intellectual rigors of scientific comprehension along with deep environmental experiences and novel physical activity.” Lomask has been commissioned to create original works for NASA, TED, the California Academy of Sciences and even the Salvadoran Olympic Gymnastic Team. She appeared in National Geographic’s “Wild Chronicles” with tree canopy scientist and frequent collaborator, Dr. Nalini Nadkarni. Since founding Capacitor in 1997, Lomask has explored the artistic canvas of outer space (Within Outer Spaces), the visible and invisible layers of Earth (Digging in the Dark), the interactions between animals and plants in the forest (Biome) and her soon-to-debut depths of the ocean and its precious life forms (The Ocean Project). A graduate of the dance conservatory at SUNY Purchase, she has trained at the Royal Ballet Academy, the Merce Cunningham Studio, the London Contemporary Dance School, among others. She has performed with some of the leading dance companies in the world, including the heralded Project Bandaloop. Lomask was a speaker at the Ecological Society of America conference in 2007 and the American Physical Society in 2010. Her work has been covered by Nature Magazine, Wired.com, NBC 11’s Tech NOW, CNET Radio, The New York Times, San Francisco Magazine and Dance Magazine.
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