Jennifer Mabus
Jennifer Mabus is a dance artist currently living and working in Texas. She possesses a rich background in her career as a performing artist, hailed as “bold” (New York Times), “living calligraphy” (Boston Globe) and “possessing a mature sense of sensitivity” (Art and Seek).
She has performed internationally as a soloist and founding member of Battle Works, Robert Battle’s company before he became the director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and she often had the honor of setting and teaching Battle’s repertory. Additionally, Mabus has danced for the Amy Marshall Dance Company (NYC), Heidi Latsky (NYC), Takehiro Ueyama (NYC), Bruce Wood Dance Project (founding dancer and rehearsal director, TX), Noble Motion Dance (TX), and Dark Circles Contemporary Dance (founding dancer, TX), among others. She continues to actively perform as a guest artist, while developing her own body of work, as a choreographer.
Mabus has presented choreography in festivals, such as the Dance Gallery Festival (TX), the Dumbo Dance Festival (NYC), Cool/NY Festival, 254 Festival (TX) and The Dance Exchange (OK), and she has been commissioned to create work on the dance companies Contemporary Ballet Dallas, Muscle Memory Dance Theater(TX), Omega Dance Company(NYC), and Elle Danceworks (TX).
She has also presented work through creative residences at Interlochen Arts Academy, UT/Dallas, Booker T Washington HSPVA (TX), Sam Houston State University (TX), and at the historic Wynne Home and Arts Center (TX). In Houston, she has been commissioned to create work for the Miller Outdoor Theater and Zilka Hall at the Hobby Center by the Foundation for Modern Music and the Windsync ensemble.
Mabus was the 2015 Rice University Dance Artist in Residence, one of Noble Motion Dance’s 2016 “Next Step” emerging artists, and one of Dance Source Houston’s 2017 Artists in Residence. She is also a founding member of the Transitory Sound and Movement Collective, where she has co-created original, interactive evenings in venues such as the Rec Room and the Rice University Gallery. As an educator, she has served o
n the dance faculties of Texas Christian University, Booker T Washington HSPVA, Interlochen Arts Academy, Houston’s HSPVA, San Jacinto College, and Sam Houston State University. Mabus received her BFA in Dance from Southern Methodist University and her MFA from Sam Houston State University, and is also a 500-hour certified yoga instructor.
Mabus is dedicated to the ways that dance can deepen understanding of the human experience and thereby affect societal evolution. She uses dance to research her inner and outer world, and when she shares what she has gleaned in performance, her experiences bridge to those of others. Mabus’ explores the interplay of fine art, kinesthetic empathy, and healing. This is her inquiry into the meeting place of human experience and performance art.
In the increasingly virtual and chaotic climate of contemporary society, it is at the engagement of body and mind that societal and individual evolution can occur. Dance can create understanding of what it means to live and to find our place within our community, and Mabus’ strives to create vital performance art that energizes individuals and weaves the social fabric that connects people.
