Eisa Jocson

Eisa Jocson is a contemporary choreographer and dancer from the Philippines, trained as a visual artist, with a background in ballet. She has been commissioned by and toured extensively in major contemporary festival with her solo triptych: Death of the Pole Dancer (2011), Macho Dancer (2013) and Host (2015). Macho Dancer won the prestigious Zurcher Kantonalbank Acknowledgement Prize at the Zurich Theater Spektakel in 2013.

In her new series, HAPPYLAND (2017), Part 1: Princess is a duet with Filipino performance artist Russ Ligtas, Part 2: Your Highness is a collaboration with 5 dancers from Ballet Philippines and the third part is set to premiere in Summer 2020. This series continuous to investigate Filipino labour, performance of happiness and production of fantasy within the happiness empire. 

Eisa Jocson exposes body politics in the service and entertainment industry as seen through the unique socioeconomic lens of the Philippines. She studies how the body moves and what conditions make it move – be it social mobility or movement out of Philippines through migrant work. In all her creations – from pole to macho dancing and hostess to Disney princess studies – capital is the driving force of movement pushing the indentured body into spatial geographies.

Artist website
www.genenco.org
eisajocson.wordpress.com