Shayla-Vie Jenkins
Shayla-Vie Jenkins is a Philadelphia-based performer, maker, educator, poetry lover, writer, and mama.
Biography
Jenkins is grateful for her life in dance, having performed for a decade with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and in inspiring projects with renowned artists such as Faye Driscoll, Susan Marshall, Moriah Evans, David Gordon, Sage Ni’Ja Whitson, and Yara Travieso to name a few. Jenkins was previously an Assistant Professor in the School of Dance at the University of the Arts. Her creative research explores the intersection of Blackness and somatic presence, with her choreographic works embodying performance as a ritual act of mourning and catharsis.
Jenkins was a visiting faculty member in the BFA in Dance Lab and Low-Residency MFA in Dance program at Bennington for the 2024-2025 academic year. She joined as the Co-Artistic & Associate Director and Artist in Residence in the BFA in Dance program at Bennington in Fall 2025.