On the planet of latest dance, the stage is a spot of presentation—a void to be crammed with motion, storytelling and metaphor. However for Canadian dancer and choreographer Lola Rose Jenkins (they/them), the stage grew to become one thing much more intimate and particular: a reconstruction of their childhood bed room. This fall, Jenkins premiered “Bed room Research” on the famend American Dance Guild at Ailey Studios, remodeling the historic theater right into a vessel for the quiet, introspective hours of adolescence, reflecting on the previous whereas trying to the long run.
The efficiency marks a major milestone in Jenkins’ dance profession; it’s not solely their first solo work offered to an viewers but in addition their first time performing authentic choreography in New York Metropolis, a metropolis that holds deep roots for his or her inventive growth.
The Structure of Reminiscence
The idea for “Bed room Research” didn’t start with a set design, however with a sense. Jenkins, who not too long ago graduated from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Buy Faculty, started creating the phrase work in the summertime of that 12 months. “I began this solo with simply the thought of the ‘stage’ representing a room,” Jenkins defined. “Once I first began the solo, I didn’t know the container of the stage or the ‘room’ I used to be constructing would find yourself being my childhood bed room.”
Because the choreographic course of deepened, Jenkins discovered themselves drawn to the precise emotional panorama of adolescence. The work started to orbit across the solitary hours between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m., which was the one time, Jenkins famous, that was assured to be free from the calls for of the surface world.
“As I stored creating the phrasing and researching the feelings that have been arising, I spotted this solo was going to be about on a regular basis I spent alone in my childhood bed room throughout these late hours,” Jenkins stated.
A Historic Stage
Performing on the Joan Weill Heart for Dance, residence to the American Dance Guild at Ailey Studios, carries a weight of historical past that’s palpable for any dance artist or choreographer. Whereas the exhibiting was not formally affiliated with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater firm, the venue is a pilgrimage website for dancers worldwide.“It felt like an honour performing there,” Jenkins stated. “With the ability to carry out in a historic constructing that so many legends within the dance discipline have labored and skilled in was a giant deal for me.”
The connection to Ailey is private for Jenkins. Throughout their conventional American dance schooling, they studied the Horton approach, a staple of the Ailey repertoire. Jenkins studied beneath Linda Celeste Sims, a former dancer and rehearsal director for the Ailey firm till 2020.
“Regardless that I wasn’t interacting with the Ailey Firm for this efficiency, it was an enormous honour to share an area with such legends within the dance discipline,” Jenkins famous. The services, described by Jenkins as lovely, supplied a becoming backdrop for a piece that explored the great thing about inside stillness.
The Vulnerability of Solo Choreography
Transitioning from a repertory dancer to a choreographer—and particularly, a solo performer—offered a novel set of challenges. Jenkins, who started their coaching on the Canadian Modern Dance Theatre (CCDT) in Toronto, is accustomed to collaborative environments.
“What’s totally different for me is the way in which my physique settles within the work,” Jenkins defined. “There’s clearly a extra direct private connection, for the reason that analysis is coming from my very own somatic recollections.” Jenkins described the rehearsal course of for “Bed room Research” as a solitary endeavor. In contrast to dancing for an additional choreographer, the place the rehearsal course of is about discovering oneself inside an current framework, making a solo meant Jenkins was the supply materials. It was about wanting inward, wanting inside.
“I discover it takes me longer to really settle and calm down into the work, since it’s so energetically charged,” Jenkins stated. “Once I ‘am’ the work, it’s extra about discovering methods to floor myself within the materials. This was the primary solo I made by myself and it was a giant studying curve to not have every other folks within the area for a lot of the rehearsals. It was all as much as me.”
Offline Artistry within the Digital Age
Jenkins’ inventive voice arrives at a pivotal second within the performing arts. As consideration spans shorten and the digital panorama turns into more and more saturated, the mandate for dance is shifting. “We’re at a really attention-grabbing time for efficiency artwork because the world turns into an increasing number of digital,” Jenkins notes. “I feel with a view to be leading edge in a time when so many fields really feel saturated with info, is to captivate audiences.”
For Jenkins, the antidote to digital noise is deep, emotional resonance. “I simply care about feeling deeply. I need to really feel moved when watching a bit of artwork,” stated Jenkins. “I feel audiences need to see actual folks on stage, they need to see somebody they’ll connect with and somebody they’ll relate to not directly.”
A Signature of Gravity and Reality
Jenkins’ motion vocabulary is a synthesis of rigorous coaching and emotional instinct. Their background is numerous, spanning the skilled repertory firm CCDT, Limón approach at SUNY Buy, and research overseas at London Modern Dance Faculty. When requested about their signature as a dancer, Jenkins factors to a mix of dramaturgy and physicality. “I grew up with mother and father who’re each actors, and my dad was usually speaking about ‘the emotional why’ for a scene,” Jenkins shared. “This actually caught with me as I began to develop my very own inventive follow.”
This affect is paired with a deep appreciation for the Limón approach, particularly the rules of gravity, fall, and restoration. “There’s excessive honesty in gravity and permitting your self to really feel the true weight of the limbs and the physique,” Jenkins stated. “What I hope to create in all my performances and choreographies are states of presentness and honesty. I used “Bed room Research” to discover how extremely bodily and complicated motion can come from these easy human ideas.”
Whereas “Bed room Research” is a defining second, it’s one in all many accomplishments in a profession that has moved at knowledgeable tempo from a younger age. Jenkins lists performing on the prestigious Joyce Theatre in 2015 as a significant early milestone, in addition to performing 21 totally different repertory works with CCDT. Maybe one of the crucial technically demanding roles Jenkins has undertaken was performing as “Blue Girl” in Doug Varone’s “RISE.”
“That was one of many hardest roles I’ve ever danced,” Jenkins admitted. But, they view “Bed room Research” as equally vital. “It was my first time ever presenting a solo to an viewers and likewise my first time performing my very own work in New York Metropolis. I really feel extremely fortunate that it was so nicely obtained and I used to be in a position to create one thing so private to me that an viewers resonated with.”
Trying Forward to 2026
The success of “Bed room Research” will not be a conclusion however a catalyst. Jenkins, at present primarily based in Brooklyn, NY, has a packed schedule for 2026 that showcases their versatility as each a performer and a collaborator. Jenkins will probably be performing Thomas Hogan’s work at Arts on Website, Inexperienced Area, and Inexperienced Lung Studio. Jenkins may even function a rehearsal assistant for acclaimed dancer Hannah Garner as the corporate restages “Mild Labor.”
The efficiency calendar continues with work by Sundari Joseph on the Gibney Theatre beneath the “Lucid” Dance Firm in March, and participation within the DIG residency for Chisato Fujii in Could. In June, Jenkins will current a brand new untitled duet with collaborators Jasmine Alisca and Cameron Stedman at Fertile Floor. “I’m so extremely grateful for the group I’ve right here and all of the gifted pretty artists I do know,” Jenkins stated.
Photographs by Isabella Pagano
