Jenna Berlyn is a freelance contemporary dance artist living in Berlin, Germany, originally from Vancouver, Canada. In January 2022, she relocated to Berlin. As a freelancer, Jenna has performed for various choreographers such as Kinesis Dance Somatheatro/Paras Terezakis, Daisy Thompson, Jennifer Mcleish-Lewis, Caldonia Walton, Okams Racer, Still Moon Arts Society in Vancouver, CA; Chaos Emblematic/Britt Angus, Karlin Schauerte in Berlin, DE; and Sintija Zigure in Riga, LV.
As a dancer, Jenna is skilled in devising movement combinations, contributing to choreography, working both independently and within groups, and engaging in improvisation. She frequently incorporates improvisation into her dance practice as a way to build choreography and as a performance technique. Her contemporary dance style is influenced by her four years of training with Tiffany Tregarthen and David Raymond (Out Innerspace, Kidd Pivot) through their program Modus Operandi in Vancouver. She completed her studies in 2019, with her last year of training supported by the British Columbia Arts Council. Jenna has also studied contact improvisation on scholarship at EDAM in Vancouver, CA, under the direction of Peter Bingham. She has pursued further training at the Banff Centre in Alberta, CA; b12 Festival in Berlin, DE; Eastman/Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in Antwerp, BE; Henny Jurriëns Foundation in Amsterdam, NL; and Atlas MX in Guanajuato, MX.
Jenna is an arts and culture activist, and supports the preservation of cultural scenes. She is involved in Berlin’s nightlife scene through working in nightclubs in various roles, and has performed as a gogo dancer in such settings. She works with a sex-positive perspective in all areas of her life, and enjoys the overlap of artistry and pleasure offered in rave culture. She runs an Instagram account focusing on clothing, music and techno events in Berlin, and has a soft spot in her heart for the rave and techno community.
Jenna enjoys infusing her personal life experiences into her embodiment of choreography. Her bold decision to move across the world to an unfamiliar place reflects her determination, resilience, and adaptability to new environments. As a self-motivated individual, she is diligent, committed, and finds joy in the creative process. Her aim is to continually advance her skills and technique as both an interpreter and choreographer, driven by a perpetual sense of curiosity. In 2015, Jenna studied visual arts, psychology and creative writing at the University of British Columbia on scholarship, which she believes have contributed to her well-rounded approach as a dance artist.
She has choreographed and performed in her own works, such as “How I Want To When” a solo which was created with sound by Aris Pedrioli and performed at Marbella Studio in Berlin Kreuzberg; “Ignore Your Symptoms” a solo performed at SMAC Gallery in Berlin Mitte; and “In Between”, a piece for five dancers performed virtually and live in Vancouver, Canada. Jenna is a co-founder of the collective Okams Racer along with Ana Sosa. Jenna has also choreographed and directed several dance films. In 2019 she was commissioned by the Festival of Recorded Movement in Vancouver, CA, to create and dance in her film “Trace, Tread” which integrated 3D animation and contemporary dance. “Trace, Tread” received further funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.
With Aris Pedrioli, Jenna co-founded the interdisciplinary collective SLEX ART in Berlin in 2023. The collective exists as a meeting point of the physical and metaphysical, visual and auditory. It uses the performative body as a tangible medium among digital landscapes. SLEX aims to use the inherent tension of relating as a source of motivation, with relationships between people, places and emotions providing endless inspiration. The pieces created by SLEX are characterized by immersive visual and aural environments, with elements of contemporary dance and raw, visceral sound scores. Their projects exist as events, installations, live performances and digital materials.
As a teacher, Jenna is passionate, clear and curious. She has taught ballet, improvisation and contemporary dance at Humboldt Universität and Technische Universität in Berlin, DE. She is a guest teacher at Embody Riga, in Riga, LV; Training Society of Vancouver in Vancouver, CA; and Modus Operandi Link Program in Vancouver, CA, where she teaches professional and pre-professional level contemporary dance. In Berlin she runs open level contemporary dance + floorwork classes.
