In celebration of Jennifer Muller/The Works’ 50th birthday – exactly 50 years after the original company was formed, 19 months after Jennifer’s passing, and following a successful debut performance celebrating Jennifer’s 80th birthday at The Joyce Theater – JMTW presents their new leadership and company to the world.
The company has appointed new leadership across the organization. Two accomplished JMTW alumni have risen to Co-Artistic Directors, ready to spearhead the next era of Muller’s work. Rosie Lani Fiedelman and Duane Gosa will take over the Artistic Leadership of Jennifer Muller/The Works. General Manager, Katy Neely, will step into the role of Executive Director. Longtime Lighting Director, Jeff Croiter, and Muller alumnus Pascal Rekoert, have both accepted roles on the organization’s Board of Directors, and Brian McIver, longtime Board Member, has embraced the role of President.
Each of these leaders has extended personal and professional commitment to Jennifer Muller – her prolific, creative body of work, and her ultimate mission – to let dance impact the hearts and minds of countless people around the world. They are energized and excited to take up the mantle, ready to uphold Jennifer’s legacy for future generations of dancers and audiences to experience and learn from.
In an ode to the past year of cross-seas collaboration, bi-weekly Zoom meetings about this legacy, and the outpouring of love and support from many generations of talented Muller dancers around the globe – JMTW has also enacted an Executive Artistic Council as an artistic resource for the new directors. Christopher Pilafian, Angeline Wolf Gloria, 1st Generation, John Brooks, Lana Carroll-Heylock, 2nd Generation, Maria Naidu, 3rd Generation, Tracy Kofford, Jen Peters, and Pascal Rekoert, 4th Generation will comprise this council, and will act as a soundboard for creative programmation to come, as well as offer whatever guidance may be helpful to Rosie and Duane in the coming years.
These alumni have all traveled into NYC for “intensive” rehearsal periods, ranging 1-2 weeks, to help stage segments of the company’s upcoming 50th Anniversary program. Some pieces presented this year haven’t been performed since the late 80s or early 90s, meaning dancers are coming back and reconstructing pieces they haven’t touched for thirty years, with sometimes a frustratingly bad video for reference.
To remedy this – JMTW has adopted the mantra, “when in doubt, gather!”
During these intensives, alumni from the same era have often come together in the studio, each teaching their old part to the new dancer taking on the role, and assisting each other in the rediscovery of old motivations and movement details. At one point in this reemergence year, JMTW had 6 alumni teaching simultaneously in the same studio, each adding their own layer, memory, experience, and perception of the movement into the communal pot. Bit by bit, the pieces have re-emerged, and life is breathed back into the iconic works of the legacy.
Other pieces the company is restaging, like the beloved Speeds, have been danced, and are still deeply known, by many generations of the company. For these pieces, as well as the larger Muller Polarity Technique, dancers have experienced a taste of hermeneutics- learning through the many interpretations and memories of JMTW alumni, who all passionately stand by the shapes and concepts that are still deeply ingrained in their minds and muscles. JMTW dancers no longer have the opportunity to learn directly from the source, but they are now receiving an influx of knowledge and joy from the many dancers who did learn from Jennifer. An incredible spirit of the company is found in those who still passionately love the work and JMTW intends to continue this concept of gathering even after appointing new Artistic Directors, as we are stronger together.
Jennifer Muller/The Works is committed to reminding their audiences of the depth of work Muller created – her range of movement vocabulary, her point of view, as well as some timeless pieces that haven’t seen the light of day in quite some time – all of which still bear incredible relevance to modern life. These iconic dances should not be left in a dropbox folder, nor should they only be accessible through a library appointment. Dance is meant to be felt, and live dance is felt like nothing else. Join us in this year of resurgence, a year of celebrating our history and embracing a future with fresh creative perspectives, maintaining an ever-strong commitment to live Muller dance.
The company will be holding a 50th Anniversary Gala on February 11, 2025 at The Hall of Lumieres in New York City and will be presenting a full 50th Anniversary Season at BAM Fisher, April 29 – May 4. Join them to celebrate the continuance of this phenomenal legacy.
Visit www.jmtw.org to learn more.
Jennifer Muller/The Works, Photo by Jaqlin Medlock
