wendy jehlen
Wendy Jehlen is a choreographer whose work questions the boundaries that we imagine between ourselves, and seeks to break down these imagined walls through an embodied practice of radical empathy. Her approach incorporates elements of her foundational movement practices of Bharata Natyam, Capoeira, Kalaripayattu, Butoh along with a range of contemporary forms. She has taught, created and performed in the US, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Italy, India, Japan, Mali, Mexico, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Palestine and Turkey. Works include The Women Gather (2022); Conference of the Birds (2018); Entangling (2015); The Deep (2015), Lilith (2013), The Knocking Within (2012); Forest (2010); and He Who Burns (2006). Jehlen has received support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, Theater Communications Group, Japan Foundation, The Boston Foundation, NEFA, Network of Ensemble Theaters, Boston Center for the Arts, Mass Cultural Council, the NEA, among others. She is a Fulbright Scholar, a Fulbright Specialist, an Arts Envoy of the Dept of State, a speaker for African Regional Services and has received grants from US Embassies in Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Japan, Haiti, China, Mexico, Rwanda and South Africa.
abstract
ANIKAYA's Conference of the Birds: Intersection of dance, identity and community
Poster
This paper examines Wendy Jehlen’s dance production “Conference of the Birds” through the dual lens of participant/ choreographer Wendy Jehlen and observer/dance critic/dancer Anita Vallabh, focusing on the intersection of dance and social justice. Drawing inspiration from Attar’s classical Sufi text, Jehlen’s choreography employs a transnational, fluid physicality and emotional vocabulary to explore migration, identity, and collective aspiration. As a dancer/ choreographer deeply immersed in this work, Wendy and her team of international dancers embodied movement as a catalyst for reimagining social relationships and confronting global crises of dislocation and belonging. Anita Vallabh witnessed dance’s dual role as archive and catalyst — preserving ancient ritualistic traditions and wisdom even as it propels urgent conversations about identity, migration, and collective resilience. Through embodied and observed research the two perspectives reveal how dance practices function both as sites of visible activism and as vessels of esoteric wisdom that challenge dominant narratives. Finally, the paper proposes that understanding dance through this dual perspective enriches contemporary dialogues around art and the sacred dimensions of social justice movements.