A New Flock: Jennifer Mabus Launches Grackle Dance Collective in Dallas

I would wager that anyone familiar with Texas dance would say that it was only a matter of time before Jennifer Mabus initiated her own creative platform. After an illustrious performing career in New York City, including Robert Battle’s Battleworks, she returned to the Lone Star State in 2007 with a distinct voice and plenty to say. She’s been making dances ever since.

Mabus’s many commissions include Bruce Wood Dance Dallas, Avant Chamber Ballet, and Houston Contemporary Dance Company, not to mention Requiem (2017), a gorgeous site-specific meditation on grief set on my own company, The Pilot Dance Project, inside the historic Morales Funeral Home in Houston.

But it was recent residencies from two organizations in her hometown of Dallas that sparked the impetus to create something of her own. “When I moved home, I spent a lot of that year caregiving,” she says. “I was starting to make work through Arts Mission Oak Cliff and Agora Artists, and both of those projects ended up being work that I was proud of.” She continued her new pieces, connecting with movers, musicians, and other artists who shared her passion for collaborative dance-making.

These efforts were enthusiastically received by audiences and established Mabus’s choreographic perspective as distinct within the Dallas dance scene. “I’m a little bit different from the rest of Dallas,” she says, noting her immersive and collaborative approach to dance presentation. “There’s lots of independent artists, repertory companies, and ballet companies here, and I’m glad there was space for more contemporary voices.”

With a team of creatives at her side, including music collaborators Brittani Bateman Nearing, William Labossiere, and David Anderson, as well as lighting projection artist Christopher Ham, and a community eager for more of her creations, the structure for a collective emerged. Then came the business of finding the right name.

On her way to a workshop led by Beitman Nearing at South Side on Lamar, a historic building in south Dallas, Mabus came across a plague of grackles. “It was after my dad died, and they were making this sound,” she says. “They murmurated, and then came back. I feel like they’re magic. The sound that they make seems like it shouldn’t exist in nature, but it’s a reminder that there’s magic in the world.”

Grackle Dance Collective will be the container for many choreographic voices, not just that of its founder. “One of our mission statements is to elevate Texas artists and to bring more attention to Texas dancers,” says Mabus. “For right now, we are having a two-production season. One will be a type of collaboration that can look a lot of different ways, and in the spring will be an immersive that I create.”

In Flock, produced earlier this year, the production centered around the theme of the grackle. “A musician, a singer, seven dance artists and I got in the room. No one was in charge, and that was kind of beautiful. We made it work. I’m proud of it.” The dissolving of the traditional company hierarchy speaks to Mabus’s desire to generate community.

Building a dance organization has always been a difficult endeavor, but starting in such tumultuous economic and political landscapes makes for an even steeper uphill battle. Mabus is keenly aware of the task at hand. “It feels like funding is getting cut, and dance companies are closing down right now,” she says. “And I thought, ‘oh, I’ll just start a dance company.’ I’m a bit nervous if I know how to do that, but I have a team of people helping me,” which includes dance artist and choreographer Rai Barnard taking up the reins on development and management.

But there’s also excitement in the air. “Dance has always been home for me,” she says. “I’m really excited to find more ways to bring dance about. I’m still doing this in my 50s, and I’m excited to see what that means in a more collective format. I don’t want to just build my own work, but build it in community.”

—ADAM CASTAÑEDA