ARTISTIC reSUME
Theater
Jennifer Genest
Height: 5"6 | Eye Color: Blue/Grey | Hair: Long Brown
For inquiries or bookings, please contact: jengenest@gmail.com
stage performances
Artisians Productions | Nuit Blanche | 2017 | Devised Theater/Movement/Dancer
M. Funk Dance Productions | Park Theatre Cafe | 2017 | Jazz Burlesque Dancer
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Winnipeg Fringe Festival | Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre | 2016 | Theatre/Dancer
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Sarasvati Productions FemFest | Asper Centre for Theatre | 2016 | Solo Performance
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For complete list, please download resume...
Training & WORKSHOPS
Yoga Synergy, Sydney, Australia
Registered Hatha Yoga Teacher 200 hour Yoga Alliance, April 2018 - April 2019
Sydney Dance Company School, Sydney, Australia | master classes | 2019
The Dance Space, Melbourne, Australia | master classes | 2018
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The School of Contemporary Dancers, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
Adult Intensive Professional Program | September 2014 - May 2017
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Berlin, Germany | New York City, USA | master classes & workshops | 2016/2017
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The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School | Summer Intensive Teacher Training | 2015
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The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School | Recreational Program | 2011 - 2014
Special Skills
Over eight (8) years of Office Administrative experience - University of Manitoba - Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science, Canada
Smooth Latin Rhythm Dancer, Circus Arts Performer specialized in Fire Poi & Adagio, Acro-Yogi, Fitness Model, Percussionist, Freelance Artist, Athlete, Martial Artist, Computer Skills, International Drivers License
Bonnie Holmes Photography
Jennifer Genest was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, second youngest of five siblings of European descent. She discovered her love for dance at a young age but among many creative mouths to feed, professional training was not feasible, so what would soon become her lifelong ambition was for now just a dream out of reach until she could support herself. In her adolescence, Jennifer honed her improvisational skills through self-taught exploration in free-style urban street, hip hop and break dancing.
Soon after high school, her ongoing struggle to chose where she should concentrate her energies finally faded when she discovered the thriving Latin dance communities in Canada. Her excitement and lust for the Latin rhythms grew as she eagerly made up for the years lost in her childhood. Aside working full-time, Jennifer filled all of her free time with a multitude of advanced training with professional dancers and intensive workshops held in Berlin, New York City, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg. Jen's gift of expression through artistic body movement was quickly noticed by many who witnessed her graceful steps.
Jennifer’s passion for the arts didn’t end with dance. She understood the importance of being well-rounded in her talents so she dedicated a few years with the Actors Training Centre of Manitoba to develop her voice and theatrical skills under the guidance of Nancy Drake.
Armed with a strong desire to lead a more holistic lifestyle, from 2009 to a long journey ending in November 2016, Jennifer and her former partner built a house from the ground up on an acreage in the suburbs South of Winnipeg. While working for the University of Manitoba in the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science since June 2010, she put dance on the back-burner briefly to complete the house construction suitable for sale, facilitate movement/yoga retreats on site and to prepare the land for a communal, sustainable organic garden. Nevertheless, she still found time amid her hectic schedule to study Latin dance as well as maintain her training practice of Classical Ballet, Modern, Jazz and Tap at Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet School.
In 2011, Jen jumped at the opportunity to participate in the nationally syndicated television hit show “Canada’s Got Talent”. She didn’t make it to the finals, but was honored to have been invited to perform on the show’s live recorded auditions after the producers saw her energetic burlesque number in the preliminaries. Jen’s lust for the upbeat Jazz style of burlesque led her to seek out one-on-one dance lessons in Las Vegas with the legendary Burlesque Dancer, Tiffany Carter.
After some deliberating decisions and undenyable yearning for movement research, in September 2014 Jennifer avidly immersed herself back in Modern, Contemporary, Ballet (RAD) and Pointe training for three consecutive years in the Intensive Professional Program at The School of Contemporary Dancers under the guidance of Gaile Petursson-Hiley, Johanna Riley, Claire Marshall, Marilee Schroeder and Alexandra Elliott. Jennifer also gained a wealth of knowledge from the Ballet Teacher Training held at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School in the summer of 2015.
Alongside collective projects with other contemporary dancers in the local community, she danced with a Cuban Latin dance company in October 2014, performed at local events such as the Cuban Pavilion for Folklorama in August 2015 as well as is a company member of a local Dance Production since 2016, performing group Jazzy Burlesque numbers. Jennifer has performed for local events such as Nuit Blanche, FemFestival, Winnipeg Fringe Theater Festival, "GirlsGirlsGirls", Re-Think Breast Cancer Fundraisers, Young Lungs Dance Exchange as well as other cultural Folklore events across Canada.
Jennifer is a dancer, performer, choreographer who creates art inspired by political and social issues around the world solely for the purpose to express the depth of her deepest desires and to instill change for the betterment of other peoples lives. Her use of rawness and vulnerability to expose her own past life experiences and the use of common world issues expressed through sincere voice over monologue, videography, photography and choreography evoke an emotional release for her viewers. Despite the hurdles faced in her youth and late exploration of her true calling, Jennifer’s joy for movement is unmistakable. She entertains and captivates audiences with her vivacious nature, ribbon like extensions trailing her long wistful hair. Jennifer denotes determination, curiosity for creativity and has an inquisitive mind for philosophical purpose and meaning. She encourages those to follow their heart's desires regardless of any setbacks faced along the way. "Seek for inspiration and move to inspire"-J. Genest
In the last few years, Jennifer has expanded her performance skills in circus arts specifically slackline, poi, staff, juggling, adagio, fire dancing, incorporating acrobatics and gymnastics, hoop, contortion, trapeze and aerial dancing. She continuously seeks out intensive movement research around the globe to collaborate and connect with other like-minded artists, choreographers, film directors, musicians and yogi's.
In 2018, Jennifer resigned from the University of Manitoba to shift careers into the healing modalities and further artistic movement. She sold her house in manitoba and with nothing but a dream, moved to Sydney, Australia for a year to pursue traditional Hatha yoga studies. She is now a certified 500 hour Hatha yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance. Upon completion of her training with Yoga Synergy, she was offered to teach at their school; working closely with Simon Borg-Olivier and Bianca Machliss; Physiotherapists and Yoga Masters from Australia. Shortly after teaching classes in sydney, she accompanied Simon to assist with his teachings at yoga teacher trainings and advanced workshops in Brisbane, Australia, Salento, italy, Paris, France, Europe, portland, maine, usa. Jennifer returned to Winnipeg in the summer of 2019, eager to share the knowledge and wisdom from her teachers. She delivered two 3hr workshops and outdoor classes. since then, she continued her travels teaching with simon at various yoga teacher trainings in Bali, Indonesia, tel aviv, Israel, Bangkok, Thailand, Goa, India and Dubai, uae.
She continues to maintain and further her personal and professional development, but most importantly to satisfy her strong craving for communication, connection, network, interviewing and encouraging collective communities among other creators around the world...
biography
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