MOVERS & SHAPERS:
PODCAST No.155 – Remembering Jennifer Muller (1944-2023)
Release Date: 4.24.23
Original Release Date: 9.5.19
TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:
ABOUT JENNIFER MULLER
JENNIFER MULLER (JMTW Artistic Director and Founder) has been an influence in the dance world for over 50 years, is known for her visionary approach and innovations in dance/theater, multi-discipline productions incorporating the spoken word, live and commissioned music, media, artist-inspired decor and unusual production elements. Muller has created over 118 pieces, including seven full evening productions, collaborating with such artists as Keith Haring, Keith Jarrett, Yoko Ono and Jeff Croiter. Muller is recognized as a “seminal influence on dance/theater.” Her prolific career has led to recent honors: Fortaleza’s 2010 Trophy of Cultural Responsibility and a 2011 American Masterpieces: Artistic Genius Grant, UCSB conference and exhibit and the publication Transformation & Continuance: Jennifer Muller and the Reshaping of American Modern Dance, 1959 to Present. An internationally renowned teacher and mentor of creative talent, Muller has developed a personalized technique informed by Eastern philosophy. TanzPlan Berlin chose Muller Polarity Technique as one of seven unique contemporary dance techniques for its publication/ DVD Tanztechnik 2010. Creating and re-staging pieces for 26 international repertory companies in nine countries, her commissions include Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Tanz-Forum Köln, Lyon Opera Ballet, Bat Dor, Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Ballet Contemporaneo, Nederlands Dans Theater, NDT3 and Introdans in The Netherlands. An award-winning choreographer, Muller’s choreography for theater/opera productions include The Public Theater, 2nd Stage Theater, NY Stage & Film, and the New York City Opera. In 2011, she choreographed the new musical The Spiral Show in China. Muller is currently re-staging her 2015 piece Miserere Nobis on both Introdans in The Netherlands and UC/Santa Barbara, both to be premiered in early 2020. Her most recent work The Theory of Color, which premiered at New York Live Arts this past June, received overwhelming acclaim: “a dynamic, riveting work.”
Above all, dance has been Ms. Muller’s passion and creative voice since she was a child. Creating pieces since age seven, she danced professionally at age 15 with the Pearl Lang Dance Company followed by nine years as Principal Dancer with the José Limon Company [while graduating from the Juilliard School] and seven years as Associate Artistic Director of the Louis Falco Dance Company. Now, as a result of years of productive creativity, her work has been seen on stage and television in 45 countries.
Podcast produced by: The Moving Architects
Interviewer: Erin Carlisle Norton