I am Jenna, born and based in Zurich, I work as a contemporary dance artist.

In my work, I navigate the tension between improvisation and choreography, between the unadorned and the constructed. For me, finding form means establishing rules that must be broken and (re-)interpreted; in doing so, I feel just as connected to intuition as I do to structure. I see the state of not knowing as a fertile, creative source, and what preoccupies me is the trust required to allow the unfolding of the present moment and the vulnerability that comes with it.

My journey has not been linear. A life-threatening illness in the middle of my dance training put into question what had been a given up until then:
a functioning body, and dance. Self-determined and improvisation-based practices became central to my work. And radical care and process-oriented work are therefore not mere concepts, but anchored in my lived experience.
The cornerstones of my work are cooperation, mindfulness, empathy and listening – to oneself, to others and to the space. Thus, the question of how we can come together and be together is ever-present.

CHOREOGRAPHER
As a choreographer, I work both independently and alongside other artists in various constellations. In 2020, I received the cultural award by the City of Zurich in the section dance. The short piece Mmmh?! was selected for AEROWAVES 40 Winks and RESO’s Tanzfaktor 2020.

IUMI, co-created with my longterm collaborator Matilda Bilberg in 2019, was part of the AEROWAVES Twenty 21 selection. Together with Matilda we have been collaborating since 2018 – creating, performing, touring, teaching. Through choreographic works we have been exploring the quality of being genuine on stage, the interplay between seeing and being seen and practice of complicity with the audience through the gaze, as well as deep listening and negotiation. The necessity for closeness, agreement and synchronicity used to be driving forces. Currently we are developing the project an unfolding of encounters. Situated within the expanded field of choreography, it explores uncertainty, co-existence and comfort, through the interweaving of dance and conversation.

With the collective UTOPISISTAS we created I’ll be back, with which we were part of documentary film series choreographer’s at work!, featuring 12 Swiss based artists about their creative process.

DANCER
I have been working as a freelance dancer since 2015. My experience ranges from stage works to site specific pieces, for young audience, as well as adults, in traditional set-ups and participatory ones. Within the span of works I have co-created, danced and performed in, there have been a wide range of different focus points, such as ventriloquy, voice, visual arts, virtual reality and inclusivity.

Companies and choreographers I have collaborated with include Cocoon Dance, Yasmine Hugonnet, bollwerk, Lyn Bentschik, Linda Vollenweider, Ivana Balabanova, Philipp Egli, Irina Lorez & Co, compagnie o., OONA project, Natalie Wagner, DA MOTUS! and I spent a season dancing for VA Wölfl/Neuer Tanz.

COMMUNITY DANCE
I co-lead the project TanzMit, an initiative promoting social and emotional wellbeing through dance at the Duttweiler and Landhus federal asylum centres in Zurich. The aim is to create an inclusive, safer space where seniors, adults and children can experience self-expression despite their difficult (life) circumstances. Through an open format that encourages spontaneous participation, we encourage people to share cultural memories and dance practices with one another.