PULP will be presenting “Four Corners” which explores the isolation and beauty an empty room can provide. Rhea Speights will be presenting a new work as well.

PULP, founded in 2019, is a San Francisco based dance company led under the artistic direction of Jenna Valez. PULP creates and performs physically rigorous, sometimes visceral, and almost always satirical dances. Our creation process is design based, which tends to stray away from direct concepts and leave space for all perspectives. We want our audience to feel their story, rather than ours. We share work to be honest, generous, and curious. PULP has presented work at several Bay Area venues including ODC, Golden Gate Park, Joe Goode, Dance Mission Theater, LevyDANCE, and SAFEhouse Arts. The company has been granted residencies through RAW SAFEhouse Arts and LevySALON. PULP participated by invitation in competitive mentorships through ODC Pilot, Mark Foehringer’s Young Choreographer Forum, and Doug Varone’s DEVICES, from which the company studied and performed in New York City.

Jenna Valez (Artistic Director/Choreographer)
Jenna Valez is a female dance artist who resides in San Francisco, CA. She believes art is a way to uncover our unconscious, which gives light to a path of deeper understanding and care. Jenna currently performs and collaborates with Molly Fletcher-Lynch, Rhea Speights, and CatCallChoir. She has also had the pleasure of dancing with Cali&Co, Dog+Pony, Quicksilver Dance Co, and Maligrad Contemporary Dance Company. Jenna has participated in several competitive choreographic mentorships including ODC Pilot, Mark Foehringer’s YCF and Doug Varone’s DEVICES. She has danced, performed and/or taught in Israel, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Arrezo. Jenna graduated with distinction from Sonoma State University with a B.A. in dance and psychology.

C.J. Logel (Dancer)
CJ was born and raised in the Inland Empire where he received his BA in Dance from UC Riverside. Since relocating to San Francisco he has had the pleasure of dancing with STEAMROLLER Dance Company, Robert Moses and Chelsea Van Billiard. He is currently dancing with Christine Cali and PULP.

Chelsea Van Billiard (Dancer)
Chelsea Van Billiard is a Las Vegas native currently residing in San Francisco. Chelsea holds a BFA in Dance and Theater from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. She also studied at the London Contemporary Dance School. Chelsea has spent time at workshops and intensives in Berlin, Israel, and San Francisco. She has performed nationally and internationally for Maligrad Contemporary Dance Company. Chelsea continues to create work in the Bay Area while performing in projects with Sarah Keeney, Rhea Speights, and other local choreographers.

Alexa Manalansan (Dancer)
Alexa Manalansan, a San Francisco native, holds a B.A in Sociology from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa where she began her modern dance training. Upon graduation, she trained at the Alvin Ailey School’s Independent Study Program in New York City. She has had the pleasure of working with Kristy Keefer’s Dance Mission Theatre in San Francisco where she has performed works by Sarah Shelton Mann, Daiane Lopes da Silva, Dexandro Montalvo, and Sarah Bush. She has also worked with Molly Fletcher-Lynch’s Maligrad Contemporary Dance Company where she had the opportunity to teach and perform in Arezzo, Italy in 2017. She is happy to be a founding member of PULP.

Oona Wong-Danders (Dancer)
Oona is an Oakland native, she received her early training at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, Berkeley Ballet Theater, and ODC/School, then completed her BA in Dance at San Francisco State University. Post graduating she has been active in the bay area dance scene and has had the pleasure of dancing, creating and performing work by so many talented artists including ahdanco, Allegra Bautista, ayanadancearts, Brenda Way, Garrett & Moulton Productions, ka·nei·see | collective, Katerina Wong, Kimi Okada, KT Nelson, Kristin Damrow & Company and Quicksilver Dance. She is thrilled to be a founding dancer of and to have found a home in PULP. If she weren’t so in love with dance, Oona, an aspiring fashion icon, would ideally live in Tokyo, running an eco-friendly flower shop by day and the local watering hole by night!