Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Crowell-Kuhnberg.
Jennifer, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I moved to Boston fifteen years ago from Brooklyn, NY, where I had danced since I was a child. I continued to perform and choreograph in college (Northeastern University) but after graduating, realized there weren’t many performance opportunities for adults in the area – who weren’t necessarily looking to “go pro.”
I founded OnStage Dance Company in 2010 with the goal of providing opportunities for avocational dancers and emerging choreographers to create new work, perform in professional showcases and have an outlet for their creativity. While most of our performers are not necessarily looking to be dancers as their professional career, they have an incredibly strong passion for performing, training, and creating. Our shows are joyful and fun and you can tell what a strong community we have behind the scenes.
Outside of directing, choreographing, and performing with OnStage, I have presented feature-length productions: “S’lichot” (Temple Shalom, 2017), “What Is Love?” (Green Street Studios 2015) and “Heartbeat: A Modern Dance Rock Concert” (OBERON, 2013-14) – in collaboration with musician, George Woods.
My work has also been featured in dozens of festivals throughout Massachusetts, Vermont and New York City, including: Dance For World Community, 12 Dancers Dancing, Third Life Choreographer Series, NACHMO NYC, and the Southern Vermont Dance Festival.
I teach at studios in the Boston area and am currently on staff at Cheryl Sullivan’s School of Dance and Dance Place, Arlington.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
My work is almost entirely autobiographical in some way. I draw on my life experiences, personal relationships, and identity to create works that help me unpack and process my own feelings and emotions – with the goal of finding universal themes that any audience can relate to!
My identity as a queer, lesbian, artist greatly influences my creative decisions and I make a point to feature same-sex partnering, interaction and themes in a very deliberate way. I’ve always done this in my short-form pieces, but focused exclusively on this in my show “What Is Love?” It was exciting and scary to talk about coming out, homophobia, and the politics around the LGBT experience. But my favorite part was getting to show lesbian relationships in a positive and romantic way.
I don’t think you could describe my work as subtle! Growing up in Brooklyn, I was obsessed with Broadway and loved the theatricality and over-the-top productions. I love creating characters and painting a picture with my pieces. Whether it’s smashing pies as fed-up 1950’s housewives, getting trapped in a prison of giant art museum picture frames, or knocking out punches in a make-shift boxing ring – I love challenging my dancers and surprising my audience.
When people see my work I hope it reminds them of a memory from their past (whether good or bad), I hope they feel something deep down in their bones, but a lot of the time, I just hope it makes them smile!
I studied to be an American Sign Language interpreter, but ultimately decided to pursue an arts career, however my knowledge of ASL – both the hand/body movements and facial grammar – greatly influence my physical movement aesthetic.
I work mostly in a contemporary style that is heavily influenced by jazz, modern and ballet technique.
Do you think conditions are generally improving for artists? What more can cities and communities do to improve conditions for artists?
Opportunities in dance, here in Boston, have definitely come a long way since I first moved here fifteen years ago! There are a lot more dance companies, festivals and small grant opportunities available these days. But you have to be extremely motivated and willing to spend hours upon hours submitting applications and putting yourself out there. It can feel like an extra part time job!
The main struggle I see, for choreographers and companies, is that it’s very challenging to bring new audience members in to see smaller, local shows. City-led art councils, arts organizations and press outlets can do more to encourage our community to seek out and support emerging artists who have fantastic work to show, but do not have the means to effectively market their own work. Most local artists are lucky to break even after producing their own shows but we do it because our work is meaningful to us and the process of creating it is incredibly rewarding.
Boston has so many amazing, emerging dance artists that are finding their voices, exploring new ideas and producing innovative work but we need to get more eyes on it!
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
OnStage Dance Company performs twice per year and our “Season Fifteen Performance” is coming up on June 17th at the BU Dance Theater. That is the best way to support my work, along with the work of other choreographers and dancers in the company.
Three years ago, I launched the OnStage Residency program which provides free studio space and a performance opportunity for emerging choreographers. The seasonal “OnStage Residency Showcase” series has been a wonderful launching pad for new artists and we’re always looking for new artists to feature.
This summer (July – August), I will be producing the “OnStage Summer Series”, featuring evening-length showcases by eight local dance companies. We hope to inspire a new wave of audience members with this exciting festival!
The residency and festival events are held at my OnStage Dance Company studio, located in Malden.
Any dancers out there who want to join in on the action can audition for the company’s next season, in the Fall – and take classes and workshops at our studio. Classes are offered for many different styles and levels, and we add new workshops each month.
Contact Info:
- Address: OnStage Dance Company
665 Salem Street, Suite 302 – Malden, MA 02148 - Website: www.onstagedanceco.com
- Phone: 617-410-6732
- Email: info@onstagedanceco.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/onstagedanceco
- Facebook: facebook.com/onstagedancecompany
- Twitter: @onstageboston
Image Credit:
Kathryn Swayze
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