Margaret Jenkins
Encyclopedia
Margaret Jenkins is a postmodern
choreographer
based in San Francisco, California
. She was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1980 and in 2003, San Francisco mayor, Willie Brown
, declared April 24 to be Margaret Jenkins Day.
and the University of California at Los Angeles. During the 1960s she danced with Viola Farber, Judy Dunn, James Cunningham, Gus Solomons, and Twyla Tharp
. Additionally, she taught at the studio of Merce Cunningham
for twelve years and restaged his works throughout the United States and Europe
In 1970, Jenkins returned to San Francisco, where she taught dance and choreographed. She founded the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company in 1973. The company is based in San Francisco and tours both nationally and internationally. Several of Jenkins' company members have gone on to form their own dance companies. These include Elizabeth Streb
, Joe Goode, and Kathleen Hermesdorf Additionally, Jenkins opened one of the first spaces in the city to combine creative research, choreography, and performance in the same building. Currently, the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company is housed in the newly established Margaret Jenkins Dance Lab, located in the South of Market Street district of San Francisco. In 2004, Jenkins and her company established the Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange (CHIME) with support from the James Irving Foundation. This program develops connections and long-term relationships between emerging and established choreographers. Choreographers who participate in CHIME are provided with time in the studio and artist fees.
, and the visual designer Alexander Nichols. She has also collaborated with musicians, including the Kronos Quartet
and the Paul Dresher
Ensemble. While in New York, she was influenced by many of the experimental artists of the 1960s. These included dancers and choreographers Merce Cunningham
, Trisha Brown
, David Gordon
, Yvonne Rainer
, and Steve Paxton
. She was also inspired by musicians John Cage
, Morton Feldman
, and Earle Brown
. She admired the work of visual artists Robert Rauschenberg
, Jasper Johns
, and Andy Warhol
. Her work has been well-received by critics. The New York Times considers Jenkins’ work to be hauntingly beautiful and compelling dance…astonishing. Additionally, the Washington Post described her choreography as having intelligence, force, and imagination .
Jenkins work has been commissioned by numerous companies and universities in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Some of her recent works include the site-specific Danger Orange (2004), Running with the Land (2005), and A Slipping Glimpse (2006). Danger Orange reflects the shaky state of national security and was performed at San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza the month before the 2004 presidential elections took place Running with the Land was commissioned for the reopening of the de Young Museum in San Francisco, and was performed in the Barbro Osher Sculpture Garden on its grounds. A Slipping Glimpse was a collaboration between her company and several dancers from Tanusree Shankar
Dance Company in Kolkata, India. In 2008, she was asked to create a piece for San Francisco Ballet
's celebration of their seventy-fifth anniversary season. Currently, she is involved in a collaboration with the Guangdong Modern Dance Theater in China, which will premiere in 2009.
. In 1980, she was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship
(1980). Jenkins has also received three Isadora Duncan Dance Awards
(“Izzies”). Additionally, she has been given the Irvine Fellowship in Dance and the Bernard Osher Cultural Award. In 2003, San Francisco mayor, Willie Brown
, declared April 24 to be Margaret Jenkins Day.
Postmodern dance
Postmodern dance is a 20th century concert dance form. A reaction to the compositional and presentation constraints of modern dance, postmodern dance hailed the use of everyday movement as valid performance art and advocated novel methods of dance composition....
choreographer
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
based in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. She was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1980 and in 2003, San Francisco mayor, Willie Brown
Willie Brown (politician)
Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served over 30 years in the California State Assembly, spending 15 years as its Speaker, and afterward served as the 41st mayor of San Francisco, the first African American to do so...
, declared April 24 to be Margaret Jenkins Day.
Biography
Jenkins began her early training in dance in her hometown of San Francisco with Judy and Lenore Job, Welland Lathrop, and Gloria Unti. She continued her dance studies at the Juilliard SchoolJuilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
and the University of California at Los Angeles. During the 1960s she danced with Viola Farber, Judy Dunn, James Cunningham, Gus Solomons, and Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp is an American dancer and choreographer, who lives and works in New York City.-Early years:Tharp was born in 1941 on a farm in Portland, Indiana, and was named after Twila Thornburg, the "Pig Princess" of the 89th Annual Muncie Fair in Indiana.she spend hours working on it to help her...
. Additionally, she taught at the studio of Merce Cunningham
Merce Cunningham
Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...
for twelve years and restaged his works throughout the United States and Europe
In 1970, Jenkins returned to San Francisco, where she taught dance and choreographed. She founded the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company in 1973. The company is based in San Francisco and tours both nationally and internationally. Several of Jenkins' company members have gone on to form their own dance companies. These include Elizabeth Streb
Elizabeth Streb
Elizabeth Streb is an American choreographer, performer, and teacher of contemporary dance.-Background:Streb was born and raised in Rochester, New York and, after graduating from the dance program of State University of New York at Brockport in 1972, she was interested in experimental works and...
, Joe Goode, and Kathleen Hermesdorf Additionally, Jenkins opened one of the first spaces in the city to combine creative research, choreography, and performance in the same building. Currently, the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company is housed in the newly established Margaret Jenkins Dance Lab, located in the South of Market Street district of San Francisco. In 2004, Jenkins and her company established the Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange (CHIME) with support from the James Irving Foundation. This program develops connections and long-term relationships between emerging and established choreographers. Choreographers who participate in CHIME are provided with time in the studio and artist fees.
Choreography
During her career, Jenkins has made over seventy-five pieces and is considered a "West Coast modern dance innovator" In creating her work, she is interested in collaborating with artists from different fields. She has worked with the poet Michael PalmerMichael Palmer
Michael Palmer is an American poet and translator. He attended Harvard University where he earned a BA in French and a MA in Comparative Literature. He has worked extensively with Contemporary dance for over thirty years and has collaborated with many composers and visual artists...
, and the visual designer Alexander Nichols. She has also collaborated with musicians, including the Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...
and the Paul Dresher
Paul Dresher
Paul Joseph Dresher is an American composer. Dresher received his B.A. in music from the University of California, Berkeley and his M.A. in composition from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied with Robert Erickson, Roger Reynolds, Pauline Oliveros, and Bernard Rands.He also...
Ensemble. While in New York, she was influenced by many of the experimental artists of the 1960s. These included dancers and choreographers Merce Cunningham
Merce Cunningham
Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...
, Trisha Brown
Trisha Brown
Trisha Brown is a postmodernist American choreographer and dancer.Brown was born in Aberdeen, Washington, and received a B.A. degree in dance from Mills College in 1958. Brown later received a D.F.A. from Bates College in 2000. For several summers she studied with Louis Horst at the American Dance...
, David Gordon
David Gordon
David Gordon is an American author and trainer and early contributor to the development of Neuro-Linguistic Programming.Gordon has helped create and shape the field of NLP since some decades yet. Gordon's main areas of contribution have been the use of therapeutic metaphors, inspired by his work...
, Yvonne Rainer
Yvonne Rainer
Yvonne Rainer is an American dancer, choreographer and filmmaker, whose work in these disciplines is frequently challenging and experimental. Her work is classified as minimalist art.- Early life :...
, and Steve Paxton
Steve Paxton
Steve Paxton is an experimental dancer and choreographer. His early background was in gymnastics while his later training included three years with Merce Cunningham and a year with José Limón. As a founding member of the Judson Dance Theater, he performed works by Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown...
. She was also inspired by musicians John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
, and Earle Brown
Earle Brown
Earle Brown was an American composer who established his own formal and notational systems...
. She admired the work of visual artists Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations...
, Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns, Jr. is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in painting and printmaking.-Life:Born in Augusta, Georgia, Jasper Johns spent his early life in Allendale, South Carolina with his paternal grandparents after his parents' marriage failed...
, and Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
. Her work has been well-received by critics. The New York Times considers Jenkins’ work to be hauntingly beautiful and compelling dance…astonishing. Additionally, the Washington Post described her choreography as having intelligence, force, and imagination .
Jenkins work has been commissioned by numerous companies and universities in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Some of her recent works include the site-specific Danger Orange (2004), Running with the Land (2005), and A Slipping Glimpse (2006). Danger Orange reflects the shaky state of national security and was performed at San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza the month before the 2004 presidential elections took place Running with the Land was commissioned for the reopening of the de Young Museum in San Francisco, and was performed in the Barbro Osher Sculpture Garden on its grounds. A Slipping Glimpse was a collaboration between her company and several dancers from Tanusree Shankar
Tanusree Shankar
Tanusree Shankar is one of the leading dancers and choreographers of contemporary dance in India and is based in Kolkata, India. She earned her fame as a danseuse as the leading dancer of the Ananda Shankar Centre for Performing Arts in the 1970s and 1980s.Tanusree Shankar was born in Calcutta...
Dance Company in Kolkata, India. In 2008, she was asked to create a piece for San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet
The San Francisco Ballet is a ballet company, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States...
's celebration of their seventy-fifth anniversary season. Currently, she is involved in a collaboration with the Guangdong Modern Dance Theater in China, which will premiere in 2009.
Accomplishments
Jenkins was on the first Board of Directors of Dance/USA and is currently on the board of Yerba Buena Center for the ArtsYerba Buena Center for the Arts
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is a multi-disiplinary contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, national, and international artists and the Bay Area's diverse...
. In 1980, she was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
(1980). Jenkins has also received three Isadora Duncan Dance Awards
Isadora Duncan Dance Awards
The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards or Izzies honor San Francisco Bay Area dance artists for outstanding achievements in a range of categories including: choreography, sustained achievement, individual performance, company performance, costume design, and set design. The awards are presented annually...
(“Izzies”). Additionally, she has been given the Irvine Fellowship in Dance and the Bernard Osher Cultural Award. In 2003, San Francisco mayor, Willie Brown
Willie Brown (politician)
Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served over 30 years in the California State Assembly, spending 15 years as its Speaker, and afterward served as the 41st mayor of San Francisco, the first African American to do so...
, declared April 24 to be Margaret Jenkins Day.