Jane Franklin Dance

The Artist

Jane Franklin Dance celebrates movement and makes dance accessible to a wide range of audiences through public performance, dance education, community engagement and collaborations with artists from other disciplines.

Jane Franklin’s choreography has been presented at multiple venues and festivals in the mid-Atlantic region and southwestern US and internationally in the UK and in Mexico. A recipient of the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region Creative Communities Award, Jane has developed innovative and collaborative projects combining dancers with the round wall skateboarding community, with a life size kinetic sculpture, with the architecture of a specific site, with dogs & owners, and with interactive live video and sound for numerous public art projects. 

Jane Franklin is a recipient of the American Association of University Women Elizabeth Campbell Award for the Advancement of the Arts in Arlington, Special Opportunity Awards from the City of Alexandria, and her video work Four Mile Run Footbridge was selected for PHOTO/VIDEO 13: Juried Mid-Atlantic Exhibition. She received a MFA from The Ohio State University as a University Fellow and certification from the Laban/Bartenieff Institute for Movement Studies.

Jane Franklin

The Artistry

Jane Franklin Dance crosses disciplines in partnership with music, media, visual artists and community participants. This special dance company blends movement, theater and visual arts, incorporates active participation by people of all ages; and performs on stage, outdoors, and at specific sites.

Jane Franklin Dance has been recognized by Virginia’s Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. The company tours for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Paul Mellon Arts in Education Program and the Virginia Commission’s Tour Directory. 

Collaborative projects have received funding in multiple years from the Virginia Commission, the Alexandria Commission, and the Arlington Commission for the Arts, American Composers Forum – Washington DC Chapter and from foundations including Arlington Community Foundation, Washington Forrest Foundation, RunningBrooke Foundation and Hollister-Clagett Family Foundation.   Forty+  and workshops for older adults provide adult dance programming and rare performance opportunities for dancers over age 40.  Performances for children delight young audiences with imaginative storytelling through dance.  Camps and after school projects provide intensive learning in movement, theatre and visual art.

Sponsor Opportunities

Contact NPAFE to find out how you can be recognized locally, regionally, and even nationally for your role in making these great performing arts events possible.

Dance education programs: after school projects and in-school performances.

Touring of Current Projects: “The Migration Project” and other repertory “Wash Over You,” “Niche”. 

 Adult dance programming that includes free healthy movement workshops at senior centers, classes for active older adults and rare performance opportunities for dancers over age 40.

What Others Say

Performances 

“Sometimes Franklin seems more like a composer than a choreographer, frequently breaking her pieces into separate “movements,” each with its own funky rhythm. Of course, modern dance has very few rules, and Franklin breaks all of ’em.” — Nick Green, Washington City Paper

“It’s a natural rhythm if you like to make things, and choreographer Jane Franklin finds a synchrony between movement and image.” – DCMetro Theater Art

“A fine-tuned sense of humor… and the simple, silly pleasure of keeping a feather afloat with your breath” – The Richmond Times Dispatch

“Franklin has the ability to choreograph with a twinkle or a sigh and do both without undue sentiment.” – The Washington Post

Niche 

“Peer into the trials and tribulations of love, cohabitation, and relationships that is Niche.  This whimsical journey draws in audiences of all kinds whether your  bag is music, visual art, dance, or theater.” – Ilana Silverstein, DCMetro Theater Arts“…wildly creative.” Britt Oliver, DC Theatre Scene

Blue Moon / Red River 

“Franklin focuses extensively on relationships, using a few carefully-selected motifs (energies between the palms; five-counts with the hands) to convey both the mystical dynamism of our planet’s beginnings as well the light and complexity of the cultures from which these stories originate.” – DC Theatre Scene

Dance Education 

“Franklin works remarkably well with children, teasing out of them movements that rarely look canned or forced.” – Lisa Traiger, The Washington Post

“The workshops were a tremendous success and a real treat for our students, many of whom had never before participated in a dance class.” – Bridget Kraft, After-School Activities Curator, Randolph Elementary

Community Engagement 

“Jane Franklin and her troupe have a way of involving people in dance who would have sworn they couldn’t dance a step.” – Seniors in Action

“When you’re looking for fresh choreography, it’s hard to get more of-the-moment than the Jane Franklin Dance Company’s 24 Hour Dance Project.” – Alex Baldinger, The Washington Post

“I encourage you to bring your children to this show full of laughter, fun and play, which in the end has a deeper purpose and most importantly brings the community together.” – Yasmeen Enahora, DCMetro Theater Arts