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JEN MALARKEY
MOVEMENT FOR THEATRE AND FILM


Jen Malarkey is an artist and practioner of movement in its broadest forms. She creates movement for professional theatre, coaches actors and teaches actor movement.

She is co-director of performance company Encounter, through which she makes new dance theatre performance. She has partnered, collaborated with and toured to Northern Stage, Soho Theatre, The Yard, The Lowry, The Place, Albany, Deptford, Live Theatre, Newcastle, Paines Plough and Fuel Theatre.


Jen Malarkey is a rare artist; She works cross artform – she’s interested in movement led work that has text and spoken language at the heart of the storytelling. The two forms (physical and spoken) have equity in her work and align to create an often explosive practice.
Louise Blackwell, Co-founder of Fuel

Jen’s work really interests us. She combines text and movement with rare confidence, flair and skill. Her ideas are distinct and convincing.
Christina Elliot, Senior Producer, The Place


MOVEMENT TRAINING
Jen holds an MA with  Distinction in Movement Studies from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (2009/10) as well as a BA Hons Devised Theatre from Dartington College of Arts (2000/03) She also attended BRIT School, where her study of movement and its application to theatre began.  

CHOREOGRAPHY AND MOVEMENT DIRECTION
Jen’s skills and interest in bringing the physical world of a performance to life range from larger ensemble movement to characterisation  to specific choreography. 

Jen is interested in inclusive spaces that celebrate difference, working 1:1 with actors on character embdoiment, working with large casts and ensembles, creating crowd scenes and choreographic movement scores and devising orginal movement with text. 

Jen has created choreography and movement directed on both her own and other’s work; recent productions include: The Kids Are Alright: A Film
(Northern Stage, Albany, CPT, Fuel Theatre) The Kids Are Alright (The Place/Albany/Touring), I Heart Catherine Pistcahio (Soho Theatre/The Lowry/The Yard/Paines Plough Roundabout/LIVE Theatre), Choir (Northern Stage/Traverse Theatre/ARC, Stockton.)

Previous productions include: Lagan (Oval House, Dir. Jane Fallowfield), Vincent River (The Pleasence, Dir. Rae McKen), Twelfth Night (Lion and Unicorn, Dir. Rae McKen), Earthquakes in London (Italia Conti, Dir. Rae McKen) Alexander Supertramp (Roundhouse, Dir. Camille Litalien), Dandy Dick (Italia Conti), Gut Girls (Chelsea Theatre, Dir. Johnny Humprhies), Phaedra (Birmingham School of Acting, Dir. Rae McKen), Othello (Italia Conti, Dir. John Gillet), On The Razzle, (Sheriden Theatre, Dir. Aoife Smyth), Tis’Pity Shes a Whore, (Italia Conti, Dir. John Gillet), Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads, (Italia Conti,  Dir. Kate Williams), Gormenghast, (Edinburgh Festival, Dir, Lawrence Evans)

MOVEMENT TEACHING  
Jen’s committment to education and training as led to her contributing to and leading modules across BA and MA Degree programmes at Mountview, Italia Conti, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Identity Drama School, British American Drama Academy, Theatre Arts London/University of Conneticut, Academy of Live and Recorded Arts and Middlesex University and Rose Brueford.  

She has worked with Opera Singers at Royal College of Music, supporting their performances and she had led youth dance groups for disabled and non-disabled children and young people. 

Jen is experienced in teaching across the actor movement curriculum and specifically Animal Study, Viewpoints, Laban Efforts, Contact Improvisation, Somatic Practice and Historical Dance.

LARGE SCALE COMMUNITY
Jen has worked in several site specific settings and with different community groups. Most recently she was commissioned by FUEL and The Place, London to create The Kids Are Alright, a dance theatre film shot on location in a residential area of Deptford, London.

She was commissioned in Halifax, West Yorkshire to create a dance theatre performance that occupied every room of a terraced house and she has worked with children and young people to explore tech, digital media and movement for stage.

Previously she choreographed a large scale Waltz performance on a busy street in Central London with people aged 60+ and choreographed for film, on location in  Watford Town Centre for a community arts project in partnership with Watford Palace Theatre.

Jen has trained in the DanceAbility Method,  an approach to teaching and choreographing that works to dissolve barriers and connect disabled and non disabled people through dance and movement.