The Black Iris Project: A Conversation with Jenna Marie
The Storm, a ballet production inspired by the displacement and resilience of Black communities, was created by award-winning director and choreographer Jeremy McQueen. McQueen is the founder of The Black Iris Project, a ballet collaborative that spotlights Black culture and history through dance.
Brown Girls Do Ballet’s founder, TaKiyah Wallace, connected with Jenna Marie in an interview on Instagram to discuss Jenna’s role in The Storm and what it taught her about the healing powers of dance and community.
Initially based on the forceful transport and enslavement of Blacks as part of The Middle Passage, The Storm also reflects on the horrific impact of hurricanes Katrina, Harvey, Sandy, and Maria in the United States. In many cases, whether it be natural disasters or acts of slavery and racism, Black communities have time and time again been displaced and forced to start anew. McQueen’s production of The Storm is meant to highlight the perseverance and unity Black communities are able to tap into in order to navigate and thrive through such traumatic events.
In the show, the lead dancer narrates his tumultuous journey of life. As he faces many adversities, he seeks the guidance and support of his ancestors, who are represented by other dancers. Jenna’s role in the production is as his guiding ancestor.
“I sort of guide him in the right direction and let him know that I’m there to support him and that he has people, he has a community, and we’re going to make this work. We’re going to persevere and it’s going to make us all the better for it,” Jenna explained.
“I understand resilient people, and them banding together as a community to make things happen, so that really speaks to me,” TaKiyah said. In fact, the Brown Girls Do Ballet Supply Closet was created as a result of Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas and Louisiana in 2017, killing dozens and leaving over 30,000 people displaced.
Photo: Gabriel Hyman and Larissa Gerszke for The Storm, by Whitney Browne
In the summer of 2016, Jenna was contacted by Jeremy McQueen to be a part of the production. At the time, she happened to be transitioning between companies, juggling auditions and considering potential job opportunities. Above all, she was mourning the painful loss of her mother, who was the driving force behind her ballet career and had passed away earlier that year.
“I felt so lost at that time, and to be surrounded in a room of beautiful, gorgeous, Black and Brown, talented, incredible human-beings and artists - it was such an inspiration,” she explained. “I needed that sense of community at that time.”
Community support plays a huge role in making a person feel uplifted and safe, which ultimately leads to success - especially in the ballet world. For example, Brown Girls Do Ballet works to connect dancers of color across the nation so they know that they always have a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand to hold, and a mentor to lead the way.
“It doesn’t matter what we’re doing. Whether it’s in dancing or just in business, we just find ways to come together just for the whole of our community, and that’s really, honestly what [The Storm] is about,” Wallace said. “It’s about community over competition.”
Through The Black Iris Project, Jeremy McQueen practices the idea of “community over competition” by making room for dancers of color while simultaneously deepening the knowledge and understanding of Black history.
Related: The Black Iris Project: A Conversation with Daphne Lee
“To have that space between us that was safe, where we weren’t competing against one another for the same spot - the one same spot - we were all in it together, all growing, and accepting, and loving each other, was just such an important moment in my career,” Jenna said. “Representation is so important. I think we overlook - especially in the arts community - being a Black ballerina and not having any representation, not having anything to look at, not having anything to be inspired by. Someone that looks just like you on stage in pointe shoes that’s the lead in a ballet - it’s huge. Jeremy is doing that. He’s been doing that.”
Photo: Jeremy McQueen; The Black Iris Project
Jenna went on to discuss how McQueen shared his research process for The Storm, which included a trip to New Orleans, Louisiana to visit the local plantations and learn more about the experience slaves had after being shipped there. The thought of this moving experience deepened Jenna’s drive to learn more about Black history, beyond what’s taught in schools. She hopes the production will ignite the same curiosity in other ballerinas as well.
“I think it’s just important to continue to educate yourself. Google things. Understand where things come from and where history comes from because that’s just going to lead us forward into where we’re trying to go,” she said.
Originally from Philadelphia, Jenna was raised in a large community filled with various cultures. Her biological mother is Puerto Rican and her father is Black. The woman who raised Jenna, whom she calls her mother, was Russian. Jenna was introduced to dance at the age of 7, when her mother enrolled her in a strict Russian ballet school.
During her senior year of high school, Jenna was offered a contract with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre the same day she auditioned. With her mother’s encouragement, she chose to continue her dance career instead of attending college. The next 8 years were spent as a professional dancer in New York City until last year, when she moved to San Francisco.
Ultimately, it was the support of Jenna’s mother and her dance community - through classes and productions like The Storm - that kept her moving forward.
“Our people are strong. When we are faced with adversity, we band together. We come together and we overcome. We keep swimming no matter how big the storm. And that’s so relevant today, now,” she said.
Photo: Jenna Marie, shot by Theik Smith
“The storm that we’re in now - we need to keep swimming. We need to keep going. We need to keep adjusting, keep doing these things online, keep making art accessible.”
Jenna hopes to connect with other ballerinas and motivate them through mentorship. To learn more about Jenna, connect with her on Instagram. To watch Jenna’s full interview with TaKiyah, click here.
About The Black Iris Project
Founded in 2016 by Jeremy McQueen, The Black Iris Project was originally inspired by a 1926 oil painting by Georgia O'Keeffe called Black Iris III. Its mission is to use ballet and dance as a classical platform to share diverse stories, while also creating a curriculum about diversity in dance by sharing education and history on Black culture. To learn more about Jeremy McQueen and The Black Iris Project, visit the project’s website or follow the project on Instagram.
Brown Girls Do Ballet strives to increase the representation of Black and Brown ballerinas by supplying resources, a network, and a prominent platform for dancers of color to connect and share their stories. To learn more about our initiatives, click here.