JEN RAY | Dancinema

A life-long learner, Jen Ray @jenraydancinema works creatively through purposeful action to be an agent for positive evolution. For over a decade, these efforts have manifested in roles such as teacher, creator, & collaborator on initiatives that elevate humans & the ways we connect through dance, culture, & technology.

Dancinema started as a passion project while she was an undergrad film student at @filmubc Nearly ten years later, she is humbled & marveled at the engagement of the screendance community & the evolution of Dancinema’s function in that network.

The early years involved creating low budget experimental films, screening at festivals (such as Los Angeles Dance Film Festival & ADF's Movies By Movers to name a few), offering Discover Dancinema @discoverdancinema workshops to all ages, features in Dance Teacher Magazine & a residency at Cucalorus.

Collabs on performances & exhibitions such as Standard Vision, The JaM Project (Dancerpalooza & The Kennedy Centre) & The Cinematheque were exciting opportunities to take Dancinema out of the conventional screen space.

Cascadia Dance & Cinema Festival @cascadiadcfestival (est. 2015 Vancouver, BC) & Capitol Dance & Cinema Festival @capitoldcfestival (est. 2016 Washington, DC) were each the first screendance festivals in their cities, so introducing audiences & building from scratch is in Dancinema’s DNA.

Jen Ray is passionate about the educational aspects of screendance & connecting with others to interpret these dynamic works. From the curated archive of festival selections, to speaking (Danse Bloom, Utah Dance Film Festival, Shine Dance Festival) exploration & growth is at the center.

In 2020, she joined forces with Hannah Weber & Clare Schweitzer on Frameform Podcast @frameformpod “a podcast on movies, moving & everything in between.”

The most rewarding things in life are done in collaboration & celebration of others. Thank you to EVERYONE who has been part of this process & whose engagement has made these aspirations a reality.