REPERTORY
Artist Statement:
As an identifying female artist, Zehnder aims to uplift and empower women of all intersectionalities, keeping HERstories at the center, challenging gender roles, investigating systems of "power", building community, and creating awareness. Humanity and relationships are constant themes present within Zehnder's work, with commanding physicality, vulnerability, boldness, complex partnering, and architectural precision.
Explore our Repertory:
Repertory for Colleges & Universities
ENDURING DISPOSITION (2023-Current)
This work, performed by 3 women, brings attention to the ongoing injustices towards women and girls around the world still fighting for basic human rights. This work uses the soundscape of excerpts from powerful speeches made by Michelle Obama, Hilary Clinton, and Emma Watson, as the dancers, made up of 3 women with different intersectionalities and stories, show resistance, athleticism, vulnerability, and the power of togetherness.
PERMEATING VOICES THAT LINGER (2021-2023)
This 30 minute collaborative work presents and challenges various gender stereotypes associated with “woman” that permeate throughout American society. Through an original musical score by Alexandra Ludwig, live vocals, a series of gestures, potent imagery, athleticism, vulnerability, touch and architectural design, we blur the lines between feminine, masculine, strength, weakness and the social constructs surrounding “power”. Inspired by the experiences and stories of dancers and willing participants, we aim to both represent and challenge what it means to be a woman, feminine and/or masculine, showcasing through movement that we are all interconnected and one affects all; "we are all more than we appear to be." Performed by a diverse cast of dancers with live music from composer Alexandra Ludwig, this thought provoking work challenges us to experience the stories of various women, and questions what it truly means to unapologetically support, represent, empower, and accept all aspects of self.
BENT IMPULSES (2017-2018)
Bent Impulses is a 30 minute work that explores what it means to be both “broken” and “connected.” This piece takes a deeper look at relationships and addictions between self, others, technology, and drugs through a series of duets and solos. The audience is drawn into a world of manipulation and conflict, as each moment of connection offers a glimpse into the individual’s struggle to embrace, give in, resist, or fight back.
DERAILED (2015; 2018)
Derailed is performed by five dancers of varying genders and identities. Centered around a duet, the piece explores the interweaving of bodies through space and offers glimpses into the moments when life "derails" us.
PULLING TO PIECES (2013)
Pulling to Pieces is a trio that explores the different states of relationships through athletic and intimate partnering as well as architectural designs in space. The movement focuses on various aspects of relationships and the blurring of personal identity, or losing of oneself, that can occur as dancers manipulate one another and various duets are formed and broken.
TRAVEL BY FOOT (2011)
Travel by Foot is a trio, inspired by the strength of the women in our lives who have battled cancer, exploring their strength juxtaposed with vulernability, balancing power with care, codependency with independence as each relationship intricately develops. The dancers move relying on weight sharing, using their bodies as architectural designs in space, with the shift of who is in control constantly changing as one dancer briefly touches the ground only to be supported again moments later.
RELATIVE OBSCURITIES (2012)
Relative Obscurities is a duet, incorporating projection and live music. The shadow dancer captured on video and projected on the back wall interacts with the live dancer onstage. The use of shadow, projection and live music all create a multimedia experience.
College and University Repertory
*WOMAN UP: CREATING RESISTIVE CHOREOGRAPHIES (working title; research in progess)
While groundbreaking female choreographers and performers have been pushing the feminist lens forward in a diverse array of spaces and styles, impacting numerous communities, this research will focus on selected female choreographers who have found ways to hold space, intentionally using their voices to amplify the stories and experiences of women using the concert dance stage as a platform, from the 1970’s until today. I am interested in female choreographers who also intentionally work within the communities they reside in, embrace and cultivate the individual voices they are working with, hold a strong belief in the power of mentoring, work within educational systems, and believe dance as a way to express our stories, make sense of the world, and as a path towards healing. I am particularly interested in analyzing the different choreographic processees, tools, and movement forms used to convey each choreographer's theme, narrative, or story. Some of the women I am currently researching include Dr. Ananya Chatterjea (Ananya Dance Theatre), Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (Urban Bush Women), Michele Byrd-McPhee (Ladies of Hip-hop), Camille A. Brown, Liz Lerman, Kate Weare, Gesel Mason, Andrea Miller (Gallim Dance), Dormeshia Edwards, and Monica Bill Barnes.
*This research is part of the Jacob's Pillow College Partnership Faculty Research Fellowship