Molissa Fenley

Choreographer

Molissa Fenley is a post-modern dancer and choreographer who has championed the values of pure dance and formal choreography through a rich and impressive body of work. Born in Nevada, Fenley grew up in Nigeria and lived in Spain before returning to the U.S. where she graduated from Mills College in 1975. She moved to New York City and formed Molissa Fenley and Dancers in 1977. Her career of choreographing and presenting her work has developed in cycles. During her first ten years (1977-1987) she focused on presenting group works, performed by herself and an ensemble of dancers. In the second ten years (1987-1997) her work shifted to solo performances created in collaboration with contemporary visual artists and composers. Now, in another cycle, she is once again exploring the dynamics of ensemble work. Her dances have also been performed by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Peggy Baker Dance Projects, Australian Dance Theatre, Ohio Ballet, Deutsche Oper Ballet of Berlin and New York City Ballet principal dancer Peter Boal among many others. In 2003 she was commissioned by the Korea/Japan Performing Arts Exchange Association with performances in Seoul and Tokyo. She has been honoured with two Bessies, New York Dance and Performance Awards, for her choreography.

Colleagues from Peggy Baker's New York years, Molissa Fenley created Inner Enchantments (1991) and Savanna (1995) for Baker, and has created a new solo for Peggy entitled Dreaming Awake to premiere in Peggy Baker Dance projects’ 3 season in 2008.