A FEATURE DOCUMENTARY FILM

Photograph by Renee Graubart

A maverick in New York City’s downtown dance scene, choreographer Jane Comfort has been recognized for issue-oriented works integrating text and movement since the late 1970s. "Breaking Form" explores a creatively rich and under-examined chapter in New York City dance. Through Comfort’s metamorphosis from a polite Southern transplant into a prolific performer celebrated worldwide for bold political satire and irreverent social commentary, the film invites viewers to be inspired by an artist who defies expectations. Her creative work calls on the audience to engage with the social injustice issues of the day.

Photograph by Arthur Elgort

“It made me feel powerful to make political work.

- Jane Comfort

Photograph by Arthur Elgort

“In the 1980s and ‘90s, Jane's work helped plant the seeds for looking at race and gender in downtown dance. This is why her work looms so important now; she was doing this stuff back then.”

- Wendy Perron, Writer, Dancer & Choreographer

Photographs by Arthur Elgort