Jennifer Allen | Urbana Dance Company

Jennifer Allen

Summary of work proposal:

After many years of somatic study, I settled into a deep practice of embodiment. And during that time, several important conversations produced this statement, “to live vs to perform” or “living vs training”. Now I've been a performer for 50 years and this really captured my attention. Am I living or performing my life? Has my training truly prepared me for living or for performing? For my residency at Urbana Dance Company, I'll create a lab to start exploring this relationship to training vs living through movement; filming dancers/performers from varied dance traditions, as well as developing solo material for myself.

Full proposal:

My last fully developed performance piece was in 2007. From there I took a Pause. I embarked on a 14 year self-study of bodies: licensed as a massage therapist, taught Yoga & Meditation, became an Alexander technique teacher, certified and became a teacher of Zero Balancing and

most recently licensed as an Acupuncturist and Herbalist.

All of this somatic study landed me firmly in my current practice of embodiment. Embodiment while working, while shopping, while being with others, while protesting, while resting. I discovered that there is no end point to embodiment. It's limitless. I will continue to practice dropping deeper into the present moment with myself and others' forever.

But somewhere in the middle of this forever journey, I had several important conversations with people. The idea floated was comparing “life vs performance” or rather, “living vs performing” which evolved into “living vs training”. Now I've been a performer for 50 years and this really captured my attention. Am I living or performing my life? Has my training truly prepared me for living or for performing? Training, of all kinds, is important. Any education helps shape us into who we become. Let's focus on dance training. Much of my professional life as a performer and a choreographer has been trying to strip away a certain amount of my training. Some of it was good, but some of it was counterproductive and some was harmful to my body.

The ripple effects of “training” go far, different styles of dance have radically different training which sinks into our tissues and affects our bodies shapes. Is it possible to move, or think outside of our training? Is it possible to explore living vs training and performing vs living? I stopped the Pause button. I'm excited to explore this inquiry for my residency at Urbana Dance Company. I'll explore this relationship to training vs living through movement, filming dancers/performers from varied dance styles. And I'll also start developing a solo for myself shaped from this exploration of

training vs living.

Jennifer Allen is a choreographer/performer/acupuncturist living in Champaign, IL since 2005. She has been creating densely layered performance works described as “enigmatic - thoughtful and compelling” for the past 25 years. Graduating from NYU's TISCH School of the Arts in 1991, she worked as a performer in NY with such influential artists as Yvonne Meier, John Jasperse, Donna Uchizono, DD Dorvillier and Jennifer Monson among others. Her choreographic work has been presented in NY by The Kitchen, the historic Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church, PS 122, Judson Church, Roulette, and the Brooklyn Museum as well as venues on both coasts and Chicago's Links Hall and Millennium Park. Allen has received support from the Brooklyn Arts Council, the Oregon Regional Arts and Culture Council, Movement Research's Artists-in-Residence, residencies through PICA (Portland Institute for Contemporary Art) and MacDowell. Jennifer has been a founding member of her partner Deke Weaver's interdisciplinary performance project The Unreliable Bestiary since its inception in 2008, collaborating on MONKEY, ELEPHANT, WOLF, BEAR and CETACEAN. Allen is also an acupuncturist who has been guiding people towards inner balance and wholeness since 2007. jenniferallentherapy.com

Class description:

Embracing Yin – a class for slowing down and dropping back into your body. Today's modern moment is full of Yang activities: high pressure, high overwhelm & high expectations of multi-tasking perfection. It's essential to learn how to balance this with Yin qualities. Through qi gong, self-massage and guided meditations, we will learn to slow down and feel “ourselves” again.