Biography

Choreographer, New Work

Toronto-born Jennifer Archibald is the founder and Artistic Director of the Arch Dance Company and Program Director of ArchCore40 Dance Intensives. Jennifer has choreographed for the Ailey II, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet West, Grand Rapids Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Tulsa Ballet and BalletX among others. She has worked commercially for Nike, MAC Cosmetics, Tommy Hilfiger as well as chart-listed artists and returns to the Crypto Arena to choreograph the opening for KCON's annual conference.

Jennifer was appointed as the first female Resident Choreographer in Cincinnati Ballet’s 40-year history. She has been commissioned by BalletMet, Grand Rapids Ballet, BalletX, Washington Ballet, Smuin Contemporary Ballet and the Kennedy Centre’s Pathways to Performance program to deliver new works in 2025. She was the acting Movement Director for The Oresteia at Shakespeare Theatre Company and her directorial debut WeAight was named the Official Selection of the 2022 Dance on Camera Festival.

She creates a "documentary ballet" format in which she creates works rooted in history bringing communities together, theatrical engagements that evolve beyond the stage and rely on historical education. Her projects in this space include Breakin’Bricks which honors the community of Black Wall Street produced by Tulsa Ballet, Sounds of the Sun which honors the life of dancer Florence Waren, exploring her experience during the holocaust and is produced by the Pittsburgh Ballet, and Seven, a biographical work about Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee commissioned by Modern American Dance Company (MADCO).

Jennifer’s works have been performed at venues including Aaron Davis Hall, Central Park’s Summerstage Mainstage, Jacob’s Pillow Inside|Out Stage, Lincoln Center, New York’s City Center and The Kennedy Center. She was awarded a Choreographic Fellow for Ailey’s New Directions Choreography Lab under the direction of Robert Battle and is a Joffrey Ballet Winning Works Choreographic Competition recipient. Her commissioned work DIRT was presented at TED Talks by St. Louis-based MADCO. Arch Dance Company’s Chasing Shadows was remounted for Dallas Black Dance Theater’s 2018/19 season. Jennifer was also the 2018/19 recipient of City University of New York Dance Initiative.

She is currently an Acting Lecturer at the Yale School of Drama and was appointed as a Guest Faculty Lecturer to develop the hip hop dance curriculum at Barnard College. Jennifer is also a guest artist at several universities including Boston Conservatory, Columbia College Chicago, Fordham/Ailey, Goucher College, Miami New World School of the Arts, Purchase College, Point Park and Princeton. She is a returning guest choreographer for the School at Jacob's Pillow.