Jenna Balfe’s work is inspired by the earth's organic environment and human being’s resonance within the environment or lack thereof. She is interested in creating an expression that is meditative and lends itself toward promoting healing of psychic and emotional space while engendering community. In her work she addresses the philosophical quandary of Death Fear as postulated by theorists such as Carl Jung, Freud and Existentialist writers. She addresses the Western world’s obsession with youth, beauty and biomedical obsession with life prolongation in her work through the lens of the natural world, noting the beauty of decay and death cycles. She focuses on physical connection to self and other to bring attention to the importance of earnest empathic connection between people. It is her own postulate that Death Fear engenders greed causing ambiguity as to what the purpose of being alive is, which Balfe argues is other people. The disconnect from self and other then disconnects us from the environment. It is this cycle between, human death fear, lack of connection to self and environment that Jenna Balfe explores at different capacities and through different means in her work. She seeks to do her part by creating connections between performers that will provide a reflexive connection with audience members/viewers to inspire connection to self, other and environment.

ARTIST BIO:

Jenna Balfe is an artist/musician and activist from Miami. She is the lead singer of the group Donzii. Balfe graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Sustainability Studies and Dance in 2011. In 2017 Balfe received a Master of Science from Pratt University in Dance Movement Therapy. Through her studies, Balfe uses a scientific and emotional perspective to approach the human relationship to self, each other, and nature. In her recent and unfolding fantastical performative narrative "Transnaturism" she questions the idea of human belonging and agency in relation to the existential value of the natural world. Balfe has shown at The Knockdown Center in Queens, NY, (2016) the performance piece with original music titled "View". Her work "Institutional Bodies" in collaboration with Misael Soto premiered at their MFA show "Side Show" at SAIC in Chicago, (2018). Balfe premiered "Metromovement- A Transnaturism Experience" in collaboration with Bas Fisher Invitational, DDA, and support from Oolite Arts (2019). She was awarded an Ellie Grant through Oolite Arts for her project Transnaturism (2018) In 2020 Balfe was awarded an Ellies grant through Oolite Arts for her upcoming work titled" "Repatriating to the Earth" (2020). In 2021 Jenna Balfe and Dennis Fuller received the "Open House" grant from The City of Miami Beach Arts and Culture Department, a residency program a storefront where they put on a production of Organesis, a movement and music narrative.
Jenna Balfe She currently is holding Bodymovement Classes, which have been ongoing since 2012. Currently, classes are focused on "Repatriating to the Earth" a chapter of "Transnaturism" that continues the exploration of human belonging through the development of a community garden/outdoor performance space and performances (TBA) at The Historic Virginia Key Beach Park. "Repatriating to the Earth" will culminate in several performances in 2022. In January of 2022 she was awarded a grant through The Miami Light Project for their Here and Now program to produce work for their black box theater in June 2022.

Check out my band : Donzii