Janis Brenner

Janis Brenner is an award-winning dancer/choreographer/singer/teacher and is artistic director of Janis Brenner & Dancers in New York City.

Janis Brenner has toured in 31 countries and is recognized as a "singular performer"with a multifaceted artistic range. Honors and grants include: A New York Dance & Performance Award ("Bessie") for her performance in Meredith Monk’s "The Politics of Quiet", Lester Horton Award for Choreography in L.A., NY Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, The Fund for US Artists at International Festivals, the U.S. State Department, Asian Cultural Council, The Trust for Mutual Understanding, UNESCO, US Embassies in Moscow, Jakarta and Dakar, and a commission for the interdisciplinary work, "The Memory Project", from the Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris. Brenner's work has been commissioned/restaged on more than 45 companies and colleges and she is a sought-after Master Teacher in technique, improvisation, composition, repertory and vocal work.

Brenner performed with Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble from 1990 - 2005 (recording on ECM Records) and continues to perform several of Monk's solo works. She received her MFA degree in Dance from the Hollins University/ADF graduate program in 2009. She is currently on the faculty of The Juilliard School serving as Choreographic Mentor to the Choreographers & Composers course and teaching Creative Process. Brenner was on the Board of The Gender Project in NY, which seeks to empower women in dance, and is on the Advisory Board of The Yard in Chilmark, MA. In May 2006, Janis was inducted into the Farmingdale High School" Wall of Fame" on Long Island as an honored alumni. Her company, Janis Brenner & Dancers, is known internationally for the caliber of its dancers and its emotionally authentic and musically diverse work. The company has toured throughout Asia, SE Asia, Europe and the United States.

Anima (1981)
Primadonna (1981)
Guilt (1985)
Still There (1987)
Suspicions (1987)
Pieces of Trust (1989)
Anticipation (1989)
The Shekhinah/Voices (1989)
Non Sinatra Songs (1991)
Pieces of Trust (duet version) (1991)
Layers (1992)
Ton of Led (1994)
Shun-Woa (Original title: Uzu Maki) (1994/2007)
A Matter of Time (1995)
What About Bob (1996)
Solo for Janis (created by Richard Siegal, 1997)
On the Rim of Thought (1998)
heartSTRINGS (1998)
The L Word (2000)
A Peace for Women (2000–2001)
The Last Ones (2001)
Common Ground (2001)
Contents May Have Shifted... (2002)
Lake (2004)
Laugh...Cry (2004)
The Sound of Moving (2006)
Natashka's Tanze (2006)
Room (2006)
The Awkward Stage (2007)
Lost, Found, Lost (2007)
Paradise Songs (2008)
The Memory Project (Ongoing)
Dancing in Absentia (2009)

NY Dance and Performance Award (Bessie Award) for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Meredith Monk's work "The Politics of Quiet", 1997

NY Dance and Performance Nomination (Bessie nomination) for her performance in "Solo for Janis" choreographed by Richard Siegal, 1999

Lester Horton Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography in L.A. for the collaborative work "Tom's Renaissance", 1996

Leach Fellowship for Outstanding Achievement in the Performing Arts from Empire State College, 1993

NY Dance On Camera Festival award, 1986

“Rarely has a choreographer invited an audience to identify so strongly with her dancers as Ms. Brenner did her with creative flair.” Anna Kisselgoff, THE NEW YORK TIMES.

“Janis Brenner’s work resonates with such a deep feeling of humanity that even those unfamiliar with concert dance and contemporary art can connect what’s onstage to their daily lives.” Holly Bass, CITY PAPER.

“Dancer, Choreographer, Singer—Brenner is that rare contemporary performer who can do it all.” BUZZ Magazine.

“Janis Brenner's 25th anniversary season celebrates not only her talents and the longevity of her company, but her mentors and colleagues over the years. At the first performance we see and hear Monk, on film, deliver two of her magical "Songs From The Hill"; then Brenner, live, sings a third, "Wa-li-o-oh", with meticulous artistry... As a choreographer, Brenner has a sense of spatial design and visual imagery that may derive part from her training with that optical wizard Alwin Nikolais. But unlike Nikolais, she uses these skills to convey mysterious events and emotional states...in Brenner's rich "A 'Peace' For Women", dancers lead one another in patterns that bespeak harmony and equality...to words by Wittgenstein that inform the music: "How small a thought it takes to make a world"...the many small thoughts Brenner has accumulated over 25 years of dancemaking amount to a very bright, well-tended world.” Deborah Jowitt, THE VILLAGE VOICE.

"JB &D premiered 'Dancing in Absentia', a new piece dedicated to the many dancers lost to the AIDS epidemic. Everything about this dance is haunting, from the vocal styling of Brenner and Michelle Rosen, the sculpted movement, and the photographs of the artists the community has lost over the years to the deadly disease. Seeing the images of those beautiful dancers- among them Ulysses Dove, Robert Joffrey, Rudolf Nureyev, Michael Bennett, Arnie Zane and Alvin Ailey-so alive with the joy of being reminds all of us how devastating the losses were to this world.

"Janis Brenner once again succeeded in sharing her precision of artistry. Enjoying her work next to the earlier pioneers made it clear that Brenner is quite deserving of her place in modern dance history." Layla Macoran, TheExaminer.com.

Ms. Brenner has performed with Meredith Monk and the Vocal Ensemble since 1990 and performs an acclaimed vocal suite from Monk's "Songs from the Hill" in concert. She and composer/vocalist Theo Bleckmann recorded their work "Mars Cantata" available from Earrelevant Music. She was also a co-choreographer for Michael Moschen (1988-92: BAM's Next Wave Festival, US tours and PBS' Great Performances), a soloist with Annabelle Gamson's company performing historic repertory of Mary Wigman, Isadora Duncan, and others (1984–87), and a soloist with the Murray Louis Dance Company working with Rudolf Nureyev, Plácido Domingo, Dave Brubeck Quartet, Joseph Papp, Batsheva Dance Company in Israel and Alwin Nikolais (1977–84).