Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil Jen now lives in New York where she makes devised performance work and directs classical and non-classical pieces -all of which are worked through a heavily movement-based process. 

Jen strives to create environments that are boldly daring and wholly equitable. She seeks to make inquisitive work that is visually arresting and viscerally engaging by blending “low” and “high” brow references that question hierarchies of perception. Her work investigates themes around generational female trauma— suicide and addiction, ritual, and desire. She has worked with classic texts, new plays, and her own generative-devised pieces. She approaches each piece, whether classic or new, from a collaborative, movement-based practice.  

Her work develops a strong, symbolic, visual language through juxtaposition. She is drawn to work that explores the potential for abstraction to meaningfully engage memory and identity by playing with gesture, metaphor, and scale. Jen earned her MFA in theatre directing from Columbia University in 2020, trained as a performer at Lecoq in France, and was a loving member of The Living Theatre from 2012-2015 under the leadership of Judith Malina. She currently works in Juilliard's vocal arts department, where she teaches and directs in the ADOS program. Her most recent project was Here Be Sirens by Kate Soper at Mannes Opera (Feb 2024). Upcoming projects: |A devised opera by inti figgis-vizueta at Opera Saratoga (July 2024) | I Due Timidi by Nino Rota at Chautauqua Conservatory Amphitheater (Aug 2024)