Led by "Bessie" Award-winning dancer, choreographer, singer Janis Brenner, this well-known, acclaimed New York company has toured throughout the US, Asia and Europe, including, most recently, Indonesia and Russia. Ms. Brenner's works range from the virtuosic and musical heartSTRINGS, to the comedic/tragic "signature" work Solo For Janis created for her by Richard Siegal, to her characteristically intense and "emotionally authentic" dances such as A Matter of Time and A "Peace" For Women, to her vocal/movement collaborations with Meredith Monk and her multidisciplinary, intergenerational The Memory Project.
 
Since its inception in 1985, Janis Brenner & Dancers has performed throughout the U.S, Asia and Europe and has been presented by leading NYC organizations including Dance Theater Workshop, The Whitney Museum of American Art, Madison Square Garden Theater, Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church, Downtown Arts Festival at Joyce Soho, Fiorello Festival, the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Project and Symphony Space. The company has appeared at many prestigious festivals including the Kuan Du Arts Festival (Taipei), International Modern Dance Festival of Seoul (Korea), JakArt@2001, Gedung Kesenian and Indonesian Dance Festivals (Indonesia), Open Look International and "Isadora" Contemporary Dance Festivals (Russia/Siberia), Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival (MA.), 2000 FEET Festival (Phil., PA.), New Moves Festival (Buffalo, NY.), ACDFA (Salt Lake City, UT.) and the "Celebration for Peace" Concert at Madison Square Garden Theater in honor of the September, 2000 United Nations Millennium Summit Conference in NYC.

R E P E R T O R Y

A "Peace" For Women focuses on women's place in the world, exploring "traditions" of female subjugation, issues of power and the human being's essential beauty. Although inherent in the dance, these issues are also not overt and non-literal. The choreography and movement vocabulary for the work are rooted in the relationship between beauty and cruelty, chaos and order and freedom and restraint. This 15-minute dance has been performed in numerous versions and incarnations, from New York to Indonesia, often incorporating 6-10 extra dancers from the local community.

 "A couple engaged in the rites of seduction are understatedly juxtaposed against two consecutive trios, moving through beautifully crafted, interwoven moments of fluid motion and stillness. Clad in white, dancing with fervor, they looked like angels in the church."
Roslyn Sulcas, The New York Times, February 2007

full touring repertory available on JanisBrenner.com
 
Improvisation/Choreography Workshop: "Moving, Sounding and Acting".

These workshops explore the process of integrating movement, voice and speaking by delving into mind/ body connection, sensations and experiences through structured improvisation. Classes are well suited for all levels. From professional dancers, singers and actors to non-performers who want to increase their range and means of expression, the class encourages its participants to take risks and discover their own holistic sense of creating art.

Each class incorporates a physical warm-up as well as a vocal warm-up with the group also learning songs to be sung together in "rounds". This creates a great sense of community and unified purpose within the group, from which we can move into movement, voice and text explorations together and individually.

The classes are a synthesis of Janis Brenner's many years working with such artists as Meredith Monk, Murray Louis and Alwin Nikolais and the development of her own, unique teaching aesthetic and choreography over the last twenty-five years.