https://preciousjennings.com Precious Jennings Tue, 19 Jan 2021 11:39:51 +0000 https://preciousjennings.com en https://preciousjennings.com/Home Wed, 03 Jun 2020 19:15:55 +0000 Precious Jennings https://preciousjennings.com/Home <img width="1800" height="1200" width_o="1800" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/be74b0ab4e78dce3960a2550b6b1ee4361ea3704dd643bacbf1add13d97d851d/Building.gif" data-mid="76176148" border="0" data-no-zoom="true" data-draggable src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/be74b0ab4e78dce3960a2550b6b1ee4361ea3704dd643bacbf1add13d97d851d/Building.gif" /> <img width="700" height="387" width_o="700" height_o="387" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/47419947984e3e3a3f0bc2ef82d3b76f8d7c038e3d441297f113cd68e71908f1/Lessons-in-Human-Development.gif" data-mid="76183708" border="0" data-no-zoom="true" data-draggable src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/700/i/47419947984e3e3a3f0bc2ef82d3b76f8d7c038e3d441297f113cd68e71908f1/Lessons-in-Human-Development.gif" /> <img width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/83b2390275b8acd519b41d31fb671300ee049090f7db57633ea324414fd33dd2/The-Eyes.gif" data-mid="76912900" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/700/i/83b2390275b8acd519b41d31fb671300ee049090f7db57633ea324414fd33dd2/The-Eyes.gif" /> <img width="700" height="549" width_o="700" height_o="549" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8e7bf29cf2a1c86416a78b5336518fbf7ea74db36bd7c1c57d5fb1eebb7a59e9/sucker.gif" data-mid="76242691" border="0" data-no-zoom="true" data-draggable src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/700/i/8e7bf29cf2a1c86416a78b5336518fbf7ea74db36bd7c1c57d5fb1eebb7a59e9/sucker.gif" /> <img width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9e9ffc33f3aa1df0ffe1496f8c01d73c21e3d8bc44a957872163c40f239b4890/st-home-gif.gif" data-mid="80080679" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/600/i/9e9ffc33f3aa1df0ffe1496f8c01d73c21e3d8bc44a957872163c40f239b4890/st-home-gif.gif" /> <img width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/76cd8cef9521e37aebc5a20da13152dd069c6980780645d1b2c6e3eaf9523771/align-collab.gif" data-mid="95372984" border="0" data-no-zoom="true" data-draggable src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/700/i/76cd8cef9521e37aebc5a20da13152dd069c6980780645d1b2c6e3eaf9523771/align-collab.gif" /> <img width="600" height="600" width_o="600" height_o="600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5de9c409dc38e1458b87aec902b31ee5b431be92a5d5538000a9156ec3911de8/align-the-fibers-corrected.gif" data-mid="118010655" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/600/i/5de9c409dc38e1458b87aec902b31ee5b431be92a5d5538000a9156ec3911de8/align-the-fibers-corrected.gif" /> https://preciousjennings.com/About Wed, 01 Jul 2020 19:49:06 +0000 Precious Jennings https://preciousjennings.com/About Education/Certification Lucid Body Teacher Training New York City, New YorkCertified Lucid Body Teacher 2017-2019 Irene DowdNew York City, New YorkCertified to teach “Volutes”, “Spirals”, “Connecting the Arms to the Heart” and“Resonance and Helix” 2012-2016 Moksha Yoga Teacher TrainingChicago, Illinois Certified Yoga Teacher 2005 Pacific College of Oriental Medicine Chicago, Illinois Certified Massage and Bodywork Practitioner 2003-2004 Employment Columbia CollegeChicago, Theater DepartmentChicago, Illinois Teacher 2007-Present Mindful Practices, LLCChicago, Illinois Teacher, Curriculum Development, Administrator 2009-Present Selected Solo and Collaborative Works “Aligning the Fibers of Self”Interdisciplinary Textile and Devised research and performance Chicago, Illinois 2019-Present “St. Home” Home Performance Solo, Dance FilmChicago, Illinois 2019 Hunter’s Moon Dance HappeningResidency and research Solo performance with Wilson Tanner Smith ModFarm at Tryon Farm, Michigan City, Indiana 2019 J E L L O Performance Seriessolo movement improvisation with musical collaboration by Wilson Tanner Smith and Julian Otis, Chicago Elastic Arts, Chicago, IL 2019 Dance-scape at the Ragdale Ring collaboration with Kristina Isabelle Dance, Ragdale Foundation,Chicago, Illinois 2018 Land Mass: Northparkcollaboration with Kristina Isabelle Dance site specific solo and group performance Northpark Village Nature Center, Chicago, Illinois 2018 “The Eyes” collaboration with drummer Raul Cotaquispe OuterSpace &amp; Hamlin Park Theater, Chicago, Illinois 2017 “Building” Evening-length inter-disciplinary work with Amelia Charter and Adam Kerbel Links Hall, Chicago, Illinois 2017 “Lessons in Human Development as captured in Whales and Horses”&nbsp; Culminating Residency performance, Links Hall, Chicago, Ilinois 2016 “Re: Search in Performance” Precious Jennings with Hamid Drake, Tim YoungLink’s Hall, Chicago, Illinois 2015 “Bennink, Oliver, Moore and Hosinger, Kato, Jennings and Marasa” Constellation Chicago Chicago, IL 2015 “The Holding” Collaboration, Amelia Charter and Adam Kerbel Links Hall, Chicago, Illinois 2015 “3on3” Improvisation with musicians, dancers and visual artistsConstellation, Chicago, Illinois 2015 “Writing on it All” Collaboration, K.J. Holmes and guests, Governor’s Island, New York City, NY 2015 The Lighthouse Project: The Fourth Series” Site-specific Collaboration - Helen Lee/Momentum Sensorium Ludington Breakwater Lighthouse, Ludington, Michigan 2015 “Conditions” collaboration Amelia Charter and Adam Kerbel, Links Hall, Chicago, Illinois 2014 “Whale” Solo ImprovisationThe Attic, Chicago, Illinois 2013 Teaching Experience Columbia College Chicago, Theater Department Chicago, IllinoisTeacher Courses taught: Body Movement for the Actor Theater Foundations Course 1 &amp; 2 Yoga Fundamentals 2007-Present Mindful Practices, LLC Chicago, Illinois Teacher, Curriculum Development, Administrator Taught: After-school and In-school preK-12 grades yoga and mindfulness and Professional Development to faculty and staff, Mentor and train new hires 2009- Present The Second City Chicago, IllinoisTeacher Body Movement for the Actor 2013-2016 The Humans Chicago, IllinoisRehearsal Director, Collaborator, performer 2005-Present Chicago Moving CompanyHamlin Park Park District, Chicago, Illinois Yoga Teacher 2011-2018 Nature Yoga Studio Yoga Teacher Chicago, Illinois 2012-2014 Professional Development and Workshops “ A Movings View” Earthdance, Planinfield Massacusetts 2018 “Begin” Earthdance, Plainfield, Massachusetts 2017 “States of Grace” Chicago, Illinois 2017 “Acrobat of the Heart” Earthdance, Plainfield Massachusetts 2016 “Dance Improvisation and Perfomance Intensive” Earthdance, Plainfield, Massachusetts 2015 OPEN sessions AuBrana Cultural Centre, Lectoure, France 2014 Combining Disciplines for Performance Bearnstow, Mt. Vernon Maine 2013-2018 The Science and Art of Intelligent Practice Tejas Yoga, Chicago, Illinois 2012 Liz Lerman Critical Response Workshop Chicago, Illinois 2012 Bartinieff Fundamentals Workshop Chicago, Illinois 2011 The Muscle of the Soul : Voice and Artist Chicago, Illinois 2008 Interests -Cycling across the state of Iowa on R.A.G.B.R.A.I. -Knitting and Spinning fiber, usable crafting, and making. -Travel as means of meditation and connection to the nature of self -Sustainable artistic practice as means of survival to create work and pleasure. -Ongoing research of somatics of everyday living, cooking, and Ayurveda. -Enjoying live music, and learning to sing and play it myself. Teaching Philosophy I began teaching at Columbia College Chicago Theater Department under the mentorship of Nana Shineflug in 2007. I teach the 7-center in body energy system, also known as the chakra system. Nana taught (as well as my yoga training) these centers through modern dance and the physics of moving in relation to gravity. Physically the centers are a set of nerve plexus that correlate to the nervous system and send signals to the mind and body to function and survive. The practices of Contact Improvisation and BMC® are the modalities I practice along with ancient practices of self-study (yoga and meditation/mindfulness). These practices are the foundations I use to lead students on their own journey of discovery. I offer tools to enter into ensemble-based practices which build to the work of Lucid Body physical acting practice, which utilizes the mind-body connection to effectively connect self and character. Lucid Body continues to build on this knowledge utilizing the chakra system as a tool to assess the relationship to persona and shadow. Simply, the persona is how someone is seen and expressed as in their everyday life, shadow is the unknown or unexpressed parts of self.&nbsp; In Lucid Body, we begin with getting to know our survival body (persona) and learn to widen the play between the sympathetic (fight, flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous systems. Understanding how the two systems activate, rest, and recover after taking on a character’s given circumstances (physical and energetic body) so one can return to a neutral body and authentically express from another center.&nbsp; Actors may have a hard time playing an opposite character or know how to recover from authentically playing a character with an opposite persona. The actor has their own authentic experience, perception, values, morals, and movement patterns, this is called one’s survival body or persona. Assessing one’s own physicality and personality we begin to understand how the imagination may affect the actor and how to come back to oneself after playing the opposite, in some cases for weeks months or years. Our bodies hold our experiences, real and imagined, in the tissues and in the nervous system, learning to come back to the center and our own lives, not the circumstances of our characters. My early physical training in classical ballet, tap, and jazz set the groundwork for my physical practice. In 2002 I attended Bates Dance Festival and began my journey of experimental performance, somatics, and bodywork. In 2003 I attended school for bodywork and massage where I studied Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Five Element Theory; how the elements physically manifest and express mind, body, spirit and personality. Rigorous dance techniques and the study of TCM, yoga, and Qi-gong inform my teaching practice to incorporate voice (seed sounds and vibration) to begin ensemble work…singular voices together create an ensemble through the vibration of matter, the first pattern in development. My curriculum combines my study, training, and ongoing practices to form an interdisciplinary performance study.&nbsp; First and foremost, I teach those in front of me, with respect, consent, and gratitude to be in the classroom. https://preciousjennings.com/Lessons-in-Human-Development-1 Thu, 02 Jul 2020 08:24:56 +0000 Precious Jennings https://preciousjennings.com/Lessons-in-Human-Development-1 Lessons&nbsp; in Human DevelopmentThis work was developed during a six-month residency at Links Hall, where I explored the dynamic between ensemble (herd) and solo (individual) experiences. My research focused on somatic, behavioral, and communicative principles observed in humans, horses, and whales—examining how cross-species behavior can reveal the diverse ways humans navigate survival, often embodying both predator and prey roles in daily life and performance. Throughout the residency, I collaborated with musicians Tim Young and Hamid Drake, as well as a range of artists, using rehearsal and workshop spaces to build relational practices that supported live, improvisational performance. These explorations culminated in a full-length performance at the residency’s conclusion. As part of my personal research, I trained in embodied horsemanship with Paula Josa-Jones and received Watsu® sessions to deepen my understanding of ensemble connection and sensitivity in movement. This process also sparked the creation of Radical Bodies—a weekly practice co-curated with Lindsay Hopkins and guided by musicians and movement facilitators—which further investigated how we come together through improvisation. https://preciousjennings.com/Building-1 Thu, 02 Jul 2020 08:49:56 +0000 Precious Jennings https://preciousjennings.com/Building-1 Building Probing the nature of their performance chemistry, Amelia Charter, Adam Kerbel and Precious Jennings present a new live performance in three parts. Each night featured different chapters of the piece as they challenge their disciplines with a never-appeasable will. Examining systems of improvisation, they have sculpted their research with building, breaking down, body, object, self, and others. "Building" Collaboration with Adam Kerbel, Amelia Charter, Precious Jennings. Total Performance: 55minutes https://preciousjennings.com/Align-the-Fibers-Menu-1 Tue, 19 Jan 2021 11:39:51 +0000 Precious Jennings https://preciousjennings.com/Align-the-Fibers-Menu-1 <img width="700" height="700" width_o="700" height_o="700" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/48b3c2daecc8c51370a5ab930292f25f595ff1ffca4224bcebcd265c3c7c682c/align-collab.gif" data-mid="95636990" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/700/i/48b3c2daecc8c51370a5ab930292f25f595ff1ffca4224bcebcd265c3c7c682c/align-collab.gif" /> <img width="650" height="453" width_o="650" height_o="453" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/486ac98f58f9edfb5f8be5ed2f6e0d3028f3bb4955f533c553663f72adbad89c/align-better.gif" data-mid="95637011" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/486ac98f58f9edfb5f8be5ed2f6e0d3028f3bb4955f533c553663f72adbad89c/align-better.gif" /> &nbsp; https://preciousjennings.com/Align-the-Collab-1 Sun, 17 Jan 2021 10:43:00 +0000 Precious Jennings https://preciousjennings.com/Align-the-Collab-1 June 2023: It was an enlightening harvest season and spring!! Interim support is needed for training others in the Low Country processing and the work as I meet others who need/want support in growing and processing. Hands-on learning is needed! Mobile Indigo Processinga fundraiser for my non-profit Align the Fibers, a registered 501-c3. September 2022: I am managing Chi design indigo’s seasonal harvest and processing this fall. We have built new aerating pumps and filter tables in collaboration with design and building extraordinaire Romain Guimard. We are working on purity, increasing processing capacity, efficiency, and eliminating waste.&nbsp; ATF : OP with Megan Schneeberger will continue during harvest season in the backyard where Chi Design has set up end processing here on Mt. Pleasant Street staying with Megan, Romain, and City Cat.&nbsp; We will continue our Ad-hoc ways...sharing space, and communing with humans, the ocean, and all the animals... Meanwhile, in Chicago, we are seeking funding for building and performance with canoes and kayaks, for what has become “Align the Fibers : Trees” with Bryan Saner and Erica Mott.&nbsp; I have much gratitude for being able to be in two places, feel supported at deep level. I believe it will come together when it is supposed to...until then we continue to build... This summer, I was a part of my first play, a staged reading with my teacher and mentor Fay Simpson. We did the reading at the end of her residency at The Catwalk, in Catskills, NY and at her studio in NYC Lucid Body House.&nbsp; Much Gratitude, for everyone I met this summer, now, on to transforming with Indigo! May 2022: I have arrived back in Charleston, SC! I am continuing my learning with Chi Indigo Design managing the shop at the Spoleto Festival and meanwhile planting Indigo that will be harvested in the fall. I have 30lbs of wool to dye with indigo, I have been plying it with my singles wool from last year.&nbsp; I will be working on some other creative projects this summer, and some editing work for an SEL curriculum for Mindful Practices. &nbsp;I am feeling very blessed and supported as I continue to find how all of my interests shift and go back to the known and the unknown.&nbsp; I will be visiting Bossville Farms and working on some creative ideas for the future there, working on artistic community-building project, and a Fall dye party for the indigo that's planted!&nbsp; Chicago, yes, Chicago! woodworking at Lathrop Homes with Bryan Saner and Erica Mott on our continued kayak and canoe project. MORE to come soon.... <img width="750" height="422" width_o="750" height_o="422" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/296967c5e9c38443129411f5181810de351fde79e76ddcf98592cdbae44b2b68/AtFOP.jpeg" data-mid="95658209" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/750/i/296967c5e9c38443129411f5181810de351fde79e76ddcf98592cdbae44b2b68/AtFOP.jpeg" /> Photo: Precious and Megan, December, 2020, Charleston, SC Align the Fibers : Object Permanence “Align the Fibers : Object Permanence” is an experiment in sustainable production processes for performance. We are embarking on a two year process of interweaving our creative practice with TrueEarth Farm's hemp production cycle. We are looking for sustainable and nurturing methodologies of performance creation and find traditional western concert dance production inappropriate for this collaboration. We are engaging with grief and loss building our own methodology that will support this investigation. &nbsp;If methodologies are used to create and support reciprocity, it becomes a healing and regenerative practice that can potentially be applied across artistic disciplines and industries. We are partnering with TrueEarth CBD farm because they have a gap in their production cycle in processing the whole plant. They are a research and development farm dedicated to sustainable best practices for health and well-being. We will explore possibilities for processing the hemp fiber after TrueEarth has extracted the CBD, be a part of research in finding the best variant to plant for fiber production and while in residency help with maintaining the farm. Our research will document how our three practices intersect, converge and diverge to further support our work. The agriculture industry struggles to support sustainable processes and performance artists have a similar experience in how we sustain ourselves physically, mentally and energetically. The project is being documented as a journal, an archival map of process and source of performance material to be used to create an installation for in-person and remote performance and story-telling. &nbsp;We are offering a window into how we are reimagining dance performance production cycles of creation. Employing our human healing skills in relation to regenerative farming, we are exploring life and death cycles to create organic narrative for content. Just as True Earth wants to capture the whole plant, we want to capture the whole human in how we inhabit our art form. We are expanding the notion of where creative space exists and hope to create a model of production where industry and art happen in concert. Here is our ongoing work archived into short films, full archive to come!&nbsp; Improvisation filmed at sunrise April 8, 2021. Performers Megan Schneeberger and Precious Jennings Sound: Wilson Tanner Smith recorded June 21, 2021Location: Sullivan's Island, South Carolina Text written and spoken by Precious Jennings. Megan wears a white dress left to her by a loved one. Precious wears a bright red sweater she knit in January 2021, from yarn left to her 20 years ago. She wears a dress her sister helped choose for her last performance before she passed. The poem is a distillation of writings from her contemplative movement practice and residency at The Hambidge Center. The piano was recorded at 4:30pm at Hambidge Center for the Arts, Rabun Gap, GA. The movement was recorded in Charleston, SC at 4:30pm on a different day. A collaboration of two individuals, a body of water and the circumstances of grief at the waters edge. During the golden hour we move through, renew and find new pathways of expression to what grief is for us and how we stay in process through connecting to nature, self and other.&nbsp; “Distance Duet” first collaboration between Megan Schneeberger (movement) on Sullivan's Island, SC and Precious Jennings (piano)recorded at The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, GA at 4:30 pm November 27, 2020 https://preciousjennings.com/Aligning-the-Fibers-of-Self Thu, 02 Jul 2020 09:09:03 +0000 Precious Jennings https://preciousjennings.com/Aligning-the-Fibers-of-Self Align&nbsp;the Fibers“Align the Fibers of Self” Research ProcessFootage taken at Hunter's Moon Residency 2019, ModFarm at Tryon Farm, Michigan City, Indiana. Align the Fibers is the name of Precious Jennings collaborative work, a living ensemble of creative individuals interested in building performances to enrich our own skills of making in tune with nature and the practices that create curiosity and enrich our surroundings. Align the Fibers is about coming back to the material of self, it is forever in transition and transformation as we arrive at collaboration. It is our vital practice of movement, dance, meditation and contemplation, research, experimentation, music, singing and sounding which includes coming to natural states in nature. Ecology of collaboration, how we align our own beliefs, hold space for others, assimilate and honor diversity and include that in how we traverse land, body and voices to begin resonating with sustainable practices of production in all forms of making. The solo project title, “Align the Fibers of Self,” came after my time at ModFarm, (I have shifted this to “Align the Fibers” to encompass it is not just about me in this process). As I swung in my hammock waiting for mordanting fibers and boiling plant material, I had time to think about: how did I get here?&nbsp; I have been asking this question about sustainability as an artist and creative process for years.&nbsp; I went to my history.&nbsp; I remembered how my mother would take us on drives “looking in the ditches” for plants that she used to dry for crafts. My mother is a creator.&nbsp; I grew up making things with her; she taught me to sew, knit, crochet, cook, cut hair,&nbsp; and most importantly: follow my instincts.&nbsp; Her parents were corn and animal farmers; she grew up on a farm until the age of 18.&nbsp; When not working on the farm, her parents made hundreds of quilts and her aunts and grandparents made lace. I didn’t get to meet most of my family as an adult, so when I play my grandmother’s guitar or finish an unfinished quilt, it is as if I am continuing my heritage and possibly some unfinished dreams.&nbsp; <img width="1005" height="815" width_o="1005" height_o="815" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7d8f2dbdfb1c63a8b62f80c325fb2d66f67f1bd783c28e8f05f487f3449d2fd1/yarn.png" data-mid="76283379" border="0" data-no-zoom="true" data-draggable src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7d8f2dbdfb1c63a8b62f80c325fb2d66f67f1bd783c28e8f05f487f3449d2fd1/yarn.png" /> https://preciousjennings.com/Sucker-1 Thu, 02 Jul 2020 09:09:29 +0000 Precious Jennings https://preciousjennings.com/Sucker-1 Sucker!Sucker!Sucker, (part of “Align”) 2019 This performance was the beginning of playing with a score about SELF, the parts of self that I shy away from, hide, side-step, or just plain don’t consider “performance”. I began practicing Contemplative Dance and studying Pema Chodron’s books for my training in Lucid Body, and practiced a simple score for 8 weeks figuring out how to perform “saying Yes to a No’, each performance is different and material used is gathered the day of the performance until I begin and anything in the room may be used. On this day, a friend gave me this record. I dressed. I arrived. I did the score. &nbsp; https://preciousjennings.com/The-Eyes-1 Thu, 09 Jul 2020 10:46:31 +0000 Precious Jennings https://preciousjennings.com/The-Eyes-1 <img width="538" height="328" width_o="538" height_o="328" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5b58268e5fc5a04a57d874461812354923d573b293fed5c3b131104eb0aef2d2/eye-vector.png" data-mid="76911708" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/538/i/5b58268e5fc5a04a57d874461812354923d573b293fed5c3b131104eb0aef2d2/eye-vector.png" /> &nbsp;&nbsp; The Eyes&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; The Eyes, 2017 Precious and Raul did not know one-another before beginning this process. We began to research how we may devise text, sound and movement based on our own interest in devising work. We both found a love of a Milan Kundera text about the eyes. We created an improvisational performance, which has become re-arranging reality through the eyes that view us, including our own inner eye, filtering the vulnerability of our own thoughts, relationship to self and other; devising improvisations surrounding text and the architecture/rhythm from within it. https://preciousjennings.com/St-Home-1 Mon, 17 Aug 2020 13:16:08 +0000 Precious Jennings https://preciousjennings.com/St-Home-1 St. Home︎︎︎︎︎ This is a clip from a half hour of material filmed by me in my home June of 2018. Presented at "Home Performance" November 2018 I am interested in the silhouette and the shadow of body, almost faceless or nameless. For “Home Performance” the space is private, the video projected onto the living room wall as guests converse, a poet reads, and musicians play and sing. It became a public place for a performance and I became the host in my own home. The video was in silence, on a loop for the evening, the sound score was whatever the guests wanted to play. The video was like a moving picture on the wall. ABOUT the material being improvised: I wanted to continue to create material, to dance, to remember ballet technique. I was interested in movement as text and the history of me. Music : Bridget St. John