Jennifer Essex is a distinguished choreographer, director, and filmmaker, whose work spans the UK and international projects. Her film choreography for award-winning visual artist Corin Sworn was showcased at the Whitechapel Gallery as part of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women. Jennifer has developed movement for innovative projects, including a stop-motion film for the French fashion house Hermes, an interactive video with the award-winning team from Studio Murmur, and a "choreophonic prosthetic" with high-tech designer Di Mainstone. Her work has received support from prestigious organizations such as the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Council England, Dance City, Middlesbrough Council, Stockton International Riverside Festival, and Pavilion Dance. She was a BENCH fellow for 2015-2016.

Jennifer's performance credits include feature films like Anna Karenina and Les Miserables, as well as advertisements for Hermes and Honda. She has collaborated with renowned choreographers such as Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Liam Steel, and Luca Silvestrini. In 2025, Jennifer served as the Artistic Director for HOME, a project that engaged 3,432 participants through dance groups and workshops, craft pop-ups, crochet circles, and summer dance camps. This six-month endeavor featured dancers aged 7 to 73 from diverse backgrounds and dance styles.

Jennifer Essex's current research focuses on developing projects that leverage technology to create inclusive and interactive experiences, exploring how new technologies impact social interactions. In her work "REPLICAS," she devised methods to send real-time text messages to audiences during live performances, investigating how different mediums can convey separate sets of information and provide emotional counterpoints to onstage action. "REPLICAS" premiered at the Stockton International Riverside Festival and Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art in the summer of 2016.

As co-Artistic Director of Fully Booked Theatre, Jennifer Essex has spearheaded several innovative projects. She created the interactive dance theatre work for children, "Space Rebel Princess," commissioned by Dance City and Middlesbrough Council, which toured across the UK with support from Tees Valley Dance, Includ Fest, Spare Parts Festival, and Young Fest. In 2019, she developed "Once Upon A Wall," an inclusive, interactive work for children and families, funded by Arts Council England and further supported by Middlesbrough Council and Stockton International Riverside Festival, which toured various festivals across the UK. In 2020, Jennifer received funding from Arts Council England and Dance City to create "How Long Is a Piece Of String?"—an interactive work focusing on storytelling through sound and movement, integrating MIDI technology to craft unique sound experiences for audiences. This work was selected for the Rural Touring scheme and performed at venues such as Alnwick Playhouse, Dance City, The Royal Opera House, and Theatre Hullabaloo.

Jennifer has a special interest in the relationship between sound, music, and the choreographic process. She was selected as one of four artists in residence at the National Choreographic Centre to explore collaborative processes between choreographers and composers under the mentorship of Kim Brandstrup.

Jennifer has also developed a pilot programme of dance classes for people living with dementia, supported by Age UK Darlington and Tees Valley Dance. As an artist in residence with Age Concern Central Lancashire, she worked in care homes with people living with dementia. The series of films developed through this project have been screened at the Museum of Lancashire, internationally in Athens and India, and in London at the Free Word Centre and Trip Space. She has presented on the critical and theoretical aspects of arts in dementia care at various conferences and events, including the Annual General Meeting of Age UK Central Lancashire, Festival of Learning at Teesside University, Pint of Science, and the Aging Well Festival in Torquay. She has collaborated with Helix Arts on their project for older dancers, "Falling on Your Feet," and in response to the COVID-19 crisis, she developed online seated dance classes for older dancers with Ageing Better Middlesbrough.

In 2023-24, Jennifer was a co-investigator for the AHRC-funded project "Empowering Children to Shape the Future of Research on Social Inequality, Health, and Wellbeing." She partnered with Tees Valley Education Trust to co-design a programme of creative workshops for children aged 8-12 years living in areas of high multiple deprivation in the South Tees region of North-East England.

In 2024, she worked on the mass dance project "HOME" with Tees Dance, supported by Borderlands and Arts Council England.

Empowering Children

Funding: AHRC

Researching benefits of dance for people living with dementia

Funding: Tees Valley Dance, Age Concern Central Lancashire

REPLICAS, interactive digital dancework

Funding: Arts Council England, Stockton International Riverside Festival, Dance City, Pavilion Dance. Middlesbrough Council

Space Rebel Princess, Interactive dance theatre work for children

Funding: Dance City, Middlesbrough Council, Includ Fest, Young Fest, Spare Parts Festival, Tees Valley Dance

BENCH Fellow 2015-2016

Once Upon a Wall, Interactive dance theatre wok for children and families

Funding: Arts Council England, Middlesbrough Council, Stockton International Riverside Festival

How Long is a Piece of String Interactive dance theatre work for children and families

Funding: Arts Council England, Dance City, The Royal Opera House

Artistic Director of Fully Booked Theatre, a company creating interactive dance theatre for children and families. www.fullybookedtheatre.com 

Performer with award-winning Tmesis Theatre, Liverpool, currently touring Beyond Belief http://tmesistheatre.com

Celebrating Age advisory panel