MISSION
I have always been interested in making dance/theatrical stories that couple layers of laughter with a loud knock to the heart. I’m interested in finding mundane qualities in performances that are also interesting, authentic and real to both the performers and the audience. In finding honest and meaningful voices in my work, I often proceed to ask myself, “How can you make dance more like dogs at play? Interactive, energized, risky, playful, social and with an underlying structure which is felt and known rather than imposed by the intellect?”
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/ CHOREOGRAPHER
Jenni Hong, made in Taiwan, is the artistic director and choreographer of Jenni Hong Dance, founded in 2005. Influenced by contact improvisation, her multicultural background and interdisciplinary experiences in dance and social psychology, Jenni creates physical and theatrical work that seeks to peel the layers of artifice to reveal what lies beneath.
Her choreography has been presented in Taiwan, Italy and the United States. In New York City, Jenni's work has been seen at DanceNow/NYC, Danspace Project's “Food for Thought” Series, Joyce SoHo, numerous showcases at Dance Space Center, The Puffin Room, "Raw Material" at Dance New Amsterdam, Dixon Place, the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD!), Tisch School of the Arts/New York University, "the Featured Length Independent Choreographer (FLIC) Fest" at Irondale Center, "Take Roots" Series at Green Space, "Collaborations in Dance Festival" and "Split Bill" Series at Triskelion Arts, Space on White, "Wassaic Dance Project Festival" in Wassaic, NY, Waterside Dance Festival, "Dance at Socrates" at Socrates Sculpture Park, and "EMOVES-13"at Harlem Stage. In Taiwan, Jenni's evening-length work, mach.com, was most recently presented by the 15th Crown Festival in Taipei. Jenni has worked and collaborated with artists including Kirstie Simson, Gina Gibney Dance, Jana Hicks, Nathan Trice, Dance Forum Taipei, A Moving Sound, Glen Fittin, Janine DeVal Gay, Guido Tuveri, Akiko Furukawa, Taipei Dance Circle, Delirious Dances/Edisa Weeks, Erica Essner Perormance Co-Op, David Appel, among others. Jenni was a guest teacher at Tisch, NYU as part of the Artist in Residency Festival with Gina Gibney Dance from 2005-2009. Since 2005, she has been teaching Yoga and movement awareness to survivors of domestic violence, seniors, LGBT and HIV/AIDS communities in New York City. Jenni is a RYT-500 hour certified Yoga teacher from Om Yoga Center in New York. She teaches yoga at various studios in New York and recently at Mulenberg College in PA. She graduated cum laude from Clark University and received her MA in psychology from Columbia University.
Jenni is the grant recipient of the Manhattan Community Arts Fund (MCAF) from Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 2012. She was part of the EMOVES-13 mentorship program at Harlem Stage. Her newest work "Like you" 'was most recently presented by Triskelion Arts in their "Split Bill" series in 2015. Jenni was the recipient of the Triskelion Arts Space Subsidy Program made possible with support from the Andew W. Melon Foundation since 2013. From 2017-2018, Jenni Hong Dance was awarded the CUNY Dance Inititive Residency.
PERFORMERS/ COLLABORATORS
Courtney Drasner grew up in Minnesota and later received a BFA in dance from NYU. Since graduating, she has performed with Gina Gibney Dance, Jana Hicks, Janessa Clark/Kilterbox, Max Stone, Paul Singh, alexanDance Performance, Jordana Toback, and Erica Essner Performance Co-op. This is her second season with Jenni Hong Dance.
Marcos Duran began improvising with movement as a teenager in San Jose, California. He acquired a BFA in Dance from UC Santa Barbara in 2006, where he received a Corwin Award in Choreography, co-produced an evening length Honor's Project, and toured as a soloist in Jose Limon's Psalm. He launched into his professional career as a guest artist with Jean Issac's San Diego Dance Theater, Malashock Dance, and as the videographer for Dance Monks in San Francisco. He performed as a company member with Jerry Pearson’s Santa Barbara Dance Theater (twice returning as a guest artist), Keith Johnson & Dancers, Stephanie Nugent Dance, Misa Kelly's Sonneblauma Danscz Theater, Gary Master's San Jose Dance Co, and presented work in Santa Barbara, San Diego and San Francisco, via invitations from the Santa Barbara Dance Alliance, Jean Issacs and Benjamin Levy respectively. Now a Brooklyn based dance artist and choreographer, he works with Meredith Glisson and Jenni Hong in addition to making dance performance pieces. Other past NYC performances have been with Risa Jaroslow & Dancers, Bill Young, Eun Hee Lee, Daniel Charon Dance, Erica Essner Performance Co- Op, Mc Arthur Dance Project, Alex Springer/ Xan Burley, Lucie Baker/Carlye Eckert, and Randy Burd among others. He has presented work at Judson Church through Movement Research, the Brooklyn Rooftop series, the 14th Street Y, The Works Studio, WAX Works, Eun Hee Lee’s NYC Famoso Festival, and the Santa Barbara International Dance Festival.
Elise Knudson is a New York based dancer/dance-maker who works with cross-disciplinary materials and ideas. Originally inspired by Nikolais technique, her training and interests have expanded to include kite flying, aerial dance, vocal explorations and various forms of improvisation. She has created over thirty long and short works which have been presented locally, nationally and in Canada. She recently earned an MFA in dance through the Hollins University ADF/MFA low residency program and currently dances with Risa Jaroslow and Jenni Hong.
Akiko Furukawa was born in Kyoto,Japan. Her choreography has been presented in New York at St. Mark's church by DanSpace Project, Aaron Davis Hall, Japan Society, the Evolving Arts Theatre,Merce Cuningham Theater, One Arm Red, CRS Theater and The Play Room in the Fringe festival where she and her partners received “the Fringest show” award for their piece. Her work “Black Crow” has been commissioned by Aaron Davis Hall's fund for new work supported by the Jerome Foundation and Phillip Morris Companies, Inc. As a performer, she has worked with various choreographers in NY.
Mei Yamanaka is from Tokyo, Japan. She had studied classic ballet for 10 years, then started to dance hip hop at age 16 because she wanted to dance more freely. After high school, Mei came to New York in 2008 to study modern and contemporary dance. She has since worked with Jennifer Archibald, Saul Ulerio, Eun Hee Lee, Kensaku Shinohara, White Wave Dance Company, Jenni Hong Dance, and more. Mei has also being choreographing her own work since 2008. Her work have been presented at Club ASIA, Japan, Jennifer Muller/The works, DMA, New Steps, LITTERA URBAN, Fresh Tracks at Dance Theater Workshop, and more. Mei was a residency artist at Dance Theater Workshop from 2010 to 2011.