We have lost an amazing person and talent. Jennifer Lyons has put together a blog in honor of Jason Colacino and asked us to spread the word. This will be the one place to get updated information and honor his life.
Jennifer also put out a touching email honoring Jason:
Beauty and talent are much too simple and obvious to describe multi-layered Jason Colacino. Private, unique, silly, and delightfully mysterious only begin to shed light on the Jason I was so fortunate to befriend. He carried himself proudly and enjoyed being in his own skin. Who wouldn’t? How humble he was though. His swift flight and deliberate skate down the hallway would be to his desired destination, different from everyone else’s. Unknown to him, behind he left all of the head turners with their mouths open. His confidence and aura drew swells around him and his sweet and polite manner engaged all that spoke to him. Jason was not one to come to you.
Every day was a new and fresh day allowing Jason to explore all of his interests and break the seams of his natural gifts of movement, expression, modeling and acting. He often said to me “I like to just blow with the wind”. So, each time we spoke, we would laugh about which way the wind was blowing and where he would “land” next. Our conversations were obscure, playful, aloof, fun and weird, and each time I would get a closer glimpse into the guy behind that perfect spin and face. How lucky I am.
How lucky are we? Were you lucky enough to have learned from Jason privately or in a group class? Did you ever have the chance to have a dreamy dance of a lifetime with Jason leaving you in a daze? Have you ever had the opportunity to see him compete to a song with “nothing in it” and all of a sudden see him move to things in the music that you were not capable of hearing before that moment? Of the precious memories and relationships so close to Jason was the one he shared with Katie. If you were so fortunate to know them and see them dance together, you would see his ability to pull you into an intimate time that two people can share, that tells a new story each time. It was like a book you did not want to put down, and certainly a book you would never want to end.
This superstar of West Coast Swing holds a special place here at TwirlTheGirl. Jason is the only instructor that has been hired for almost every one of our 10 years for weekend events. Jason’s events holds record attendance over any other single professional hired here in Providence. Some of Jason’s favorite things about being in Providence were the Chocolate Éclair from Gregg’s Restaurant and seeing all of his personal friends from his Tango group. Reese also couldn’t get enough of Jason (my passed greyhound). He would always nudge the door open when Jason was trying to take a nap, and Jason would always take him in.
I reach out to you painfully to share the loss of an artist that has inspired the world to dance to a higher level of perfection, accuracy and attitude and someone who stood for being authentic. Some people come and go in our lives, some stay, yet others “blow in and out” leaving us with only memories. These memories we have of Jason are to leave us feeling grateful in how lucky we are to be touched by someone so brilliant as Jason and to remind of how alive he will always be in our hearts.
Jennifer Lyons
