The University of Toledo

About Jessica Bonenfant

Jessica Bonenfant has been the Creative Director of Brooklyn based Lola Lola Dance Theatre since 2003.  Her work, a blend of movement, text and striking imagery, has been seen across the U.S. in a variety of traditional and site-specific spaces, as well as on film.  She has created five-evening length works for her company, and is currently developing the sixth, a performance-as-research project presented in installments at Brooklyn's Micro Museum, ShapeShifter Lab, and the Itinerant Performance Art Festival at Grace Exhibition Space.  This spring, the project received a stipend and space grant from the National Endowment for the Arts via Chashama’s Windows program, which supported a five-day storefront performance installation in New York City's Garment District.  This year, Jessica has also choreographed a music video and stage show for singer Charlene Kaye, and her band The Brilliant Eyes. 

Jessica has been an artist-in-residence at The Field, The Silo and most recently at Performing Arts Forum in St. Erme, France. As a dance scholar, her research was presented at the 2011 Congress on Research in Dance conference.  She is a certified yoga teacher and a member of CDP/NYC, a group that practices performance improvisation grounded in Buddhist philosophy.  She holds an MFA in choreography from University of Michigan and a BA in dance from Marymount Manhattan College.   Jessica has taught dance technique, composition and improvisation courses at University of Michigan, where she recently set a work on the 17-member Freshman Touring Company.  She has also guest taught at University of Toledo, where she choreographed numerous theatrical productions.   

Visit www.lolalola.org