Margaret Jenkins Company

Margaret Jenkins Company
Name	Margaret Jenkins Company
Type	Nonprofit dance company
Founded	1973
Founder	Margaret Jenkins
Location	San Francisco, California

Margaret Jenkins Company Margaret Jenkins Company is a contemporary dance ensemble based in San Francisco, California, founded in 1973 by choreographer Margaret Jenkins. The company produces performances, commissions, residencies, and educational programs, engaging with institutions across the United States and internationally. It has collaborated with artists from visual art, music, theater, and film, and has received recognition from foundations, arts councils, and cultural institutions.

History

Margaret Jenkins founded the company in 1973 after performing in New York City and San Francisco venues, building ties with the Judson Dance Theater, Merce Cunningham alumni, and downtown dance networks that included artists from Trisha Brown, Yvonne Rainer, and Paul Taylor. Early seasons performed at spaces such as The Women's Building (San Francisco), Dance Mission Theater, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, developing repertory that toured to festivals like the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, American Dance Festival, and international venues in Japan, France, and Germany. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the company navigated funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, and private foundations including the Rockefeller Foundation and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, while partnering with presenters such as BAM and Koç University-affiliated cultural programs. The company's history includes landmark commissions connected to institutions like the San Francisco Arts Commission and collaborations with festivals including the Jacob's Pillow and the Oberlin Dance Collective.

Artistic Vision and Repertoire

Margaret Jenkins developed an interdisciplinary choreographic approach influenced by encounters with choreographers and composers including Stevie Wonder collaborators, but also exchange with artists in the visual arts such as Bruce Nauman and Eva Hesse-influenced practices through curator connections at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Repertoire emphasizes improvisation structures inherited from practices of Merce Cunningham and compositional strategies resonant with works by John Cage, while integrating theatrical frameworks akin to experiments by Robert Wilson. The company's aesthetic has been presented alongside music by composers like Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and John Adams and has intersected with film and multimedia artists associated with Bay Area Video Coalition and documentary practices linked to Ken Burns-style archival interventions. Performance projects have been staged in partnership with venues such as SFJAZZ Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Key Works and Commissions

Signature works include long-form repertory and site-specific commissions that have premiered at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and toured to presenters such as The Joyce Theater and the Walker Art Center. Notable premieres resulted from commissions funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the MAP Fund, producing evening-length pieces presented with scores by contemporary composers associated with Bang on a Can and arrangements referencing the work of Morton Feldman. The company has also created film-dance hybrids exhibited at festivals including the Sundance Film Festival and screened at art institutions like Tate Modern and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Collaborations and Residencies

The company has engaged in artist residencies with academic and cultural institutions including Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, and international partnerships with entities such as Sadler's Wells and the British Council. Collaborators have included visual artists, composers, and theater-makers like Rirkrit Tiravanija, Rebecca Belmore, and musicians affiliated with Bang on a Can, as well as lighting designers who worked on productions at Lincoln Center and film artists exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art. Residency programs have also intersected with community arts organizations such as CulturalDC and local arts councils in municipalities like Oakland and Berkeley.

Company Members and Leadership

Founded and led by Margaret Jenkins, the company has featured principal performers and rehearsal directors who trained with institutions including Juilliard School, Merce Cunningham Studio, and dance programs at UCLA School of Dance. Leadership over the decades has included executive directors and artistic advisors with prior affiliations to organizations such as the Dance Theater Workshop, National Dance Project, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Notable guest artists and alumni have gone on to join ensembles like Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Batsheva Dance Company, and contemporary companies touring through presenters such as Danspace Project and Jacob's Pillow.

Education, Outreach, and Community Programs

The company operates education and outreach initiatives partnering with public and private schools in the San Francisco Unified School District and neighborhood cultural organizations like Precita Eyes and Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. Programs have included residencies supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, workshops at universities such as California Institute of the Arts and University of California, Los Angeles, and mentorship schemes linked to the Kennedy Center's arts learning networks. Community performance projects have been presented in collaboration with public art initiatives run by the San Francisco Arts Commission and festivals like SF Open Studios.

Awards and Recognition

The company and Margaret Jenkins have received awards and fellowships from bodies such as the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and state-level honors from the California Arts Council. Recognition includes choreography prizes granted by presenting organizations like The Joyce Theater Foundation and lifetime achievement acknowledgments awarded by regional institutions including the San Francisco Arts Commission and national entities such as the Dance/USA network.

Category:Dance companies in the United States Category:Performing arts in San Francisco