Margaret Jenkins, San Francisco's venerated choreographer and dancer, celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company (MJDC) in April 2003 with her latest critically-acclaimed piece, Three Decades of Dance.

During her illustrious career, Margaret Jenkins has created no fewer than 68 dances. A fifth generation Californian, she began her early dance training in San Francisco before studying at New York's Juilliard School of Music with José Limón and Martha Graham. While in New York, she danced in the companies of such esteemed contemporary choreographers as Viola Farber, Judy Dunn, Gus Solomons, Jr., and Twyla Tharp's original company from 1965-70. Jenkins was associated with Merce Cunningham for a period of 12 years, serving as both his special assistant and as a faculty member of the Merce Cunningham Studio, teaching and restaging his works for dance companies in Europe and the U.S.

Moving back to San Francisco in 1970, Jenkins soon established her own company and opened one of the first studio-performing spaces on the West Coast for modern dance, a venue that proved to be a significant catalyst for the development of San Francisco as a major dance center. Her long and impressive list of collaborators includes such notable artists as Yoko Ono, Bruce Nauman, Terry Allen, Alvin Curran, Kronos Quartet, and John Sanborn, among others. In 1993, Jenkins shifted from a repertory-based company to a project-oriented ensemble dedicated to the sole purpose of making new dance works.

[Margaret Jenkins website]