Learning Vulnerability

Jenna Blumenfeld grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut where she began her formal ballet training at the New England Academy of Dance. After high school, she discovered modern dance, eventually leading her to earn a B.S. in Kinesiology-Dance at Indiana University. While attending IU, she performed the works of Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, Anna Sokolow, Elizabeth Shea, Laura Poole, and Martha Wittman. After dancing with Thomas/Ortiz Dance in New York City, Jenna ventured to Boulder, Colorado where she pursued her lifelong affection for writing and outdoor sports such as skiing, hiking, climbing, and biking. Jenna also joined the AscenDance Project in 2012 and since then has become one of my strongest performers, and closest friends. Editing this episode made me cry every time I opened the project. In our conversation, Jenna and I discuss our very different relationships to vulnerability. While to me, being vulnerable has come naturally, Jenna has been pretty good at keeping her emotions at bay for most of her life, until recently. After a life transition, she is now discovering a whole new world of showing emotion without the fear of loss or abandonment. In this beautifully touching and very vulnerable conversion, we both share what our process of learning to be vulnerable has looked like. One of my favorite quotes from our conversation: ‘Maybe it’s OK to cry a little when I talk.’