DANCER

A classically trained ballet and contemporary dancer, Jennifer has an international performance portfolio with companies such as Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Art Song Project, FAWN Chamber Creative and Esprit Orchestra. She was a company member in the corps de ballet of Opera Atelier for ten years and has performed with her company Hit & Run Dance Productions since its conception in 2004. Jennifer frequently works with composers, directors and visual artists as an interpretive collaborator.  

Dancer, Choreographer
Toronto Symphony Orchestra

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Dancer, Choreographer
FAWN Chamber Creative

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Dancer, Choreographer
Esprit Orchestra

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Dancer, Choreographer
Toronto Summer Music

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Dancer, Choreographer
Art Gallery of Ontario

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Dancer, Choreographer
In.Set

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Dancer, Choreographer, Co-Director
In Development

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Dancer, Choreographer, Co-Director
FAWN Chamber Creative

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Dancer, Choreographer
Canadian Art Song Project

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Dancer, Choreographer, Co-Director
In Development

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Company member
2009-2018

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  • "Nichols dances with the ferocity of a succubus, a female demon who frightens away dreams. Her movements are sharp, spiky and angular. They careen all over the performing space, bouncing off the floor and steaming up the mirrors on which the dancer has scribbled a diatribe in red ink – choreography made word."

    - Deirdre Kelly, CRITICS AT LARGE-  Canadian Art Song Project- Sewing the Earthworm 

  • "Stepping out of her capacity as choreographer into dancing slippers, Jennifer Nichols embodies all the vulnerability and pathos of Anna II, sensuous, almost ethereal. There is a vague aura of earthly piety surrounding her relentlessly persecuted character, an innocent agnus dei who assumes the sins of the world and by doing so, removes them. Perhaps it is the purity of her line, perhaps it is her grace, somehow Nichols embodies an almost angelic presence on stage. Anna II’s near total physical and emotional destruction at the hands of all who abuse her becomes a tragic coda."

    - OPERA GOING TORONTO-  Toronto Symphony Orchestra- Seven Deadly Sins (choreographer & dancer)

  • "And I’d be remiss if I don’t give my strongest kudos to Jennifer Nichols, who was simply amazing as the dancer and choreographer."

    - Joseph So, MUSICAL TORONTO-  Toronto Symphony Orchestra- Seven Deadly Sins

  • "I was especially moved by the Poulenc, illuminated by Nichols’ dance. This is a very daring piece of work, where Nichols illustrates a very precarious existence, literally balanced on the edge of falling. She’s a negative image of the singer, taking us to psychological depths that are only implicit or shadows of the surface we experience in the text of the song...Nichols’ willingness to allow herself to be by turns contorted or grotesquely exposed takes her movement beyond mere dance."

    - Leslie Barcz, BARCZA BLOG-  In.Set- Extensions of Us (choreographer & dancer)

  • “The choreography by Jennifer Nichols was superbly danced by her and Justin De Bernardi. A lyric contemporary styling that blooms from a naturalistic, contemporary posture.”

    - SCHMOPERA, In.Set - Extensions of Us

  • "Nichols' dancing was stellar #AsPerUsual. Her grace and strength and intuition are perfect for moving to pieces like these. Her contemporary/lyric style was made for this kind of material…It was also really nice to see Jennifer in pointe shoes. In what was probably my favourite number dance-wise, we see the power and grace Jennifer possesses when she's using her classical technique in a more overt manner. There was a moment, which is something I'm not actually sure I've ever seen in person, where in relevée, on full pointe, she stood completely still. No fluttering no balance or pas de bourrée just straight up strength, poise and balance. Simply delicious."

    - Greg Finney, SCHMOPERA- FAWN Chamber Creative-  Synesthesia IV  (Choreographer & Dancer)

  • “I was expecting, I think, something like a video of the stage show along the lines of all those things we watched with mixed feelings during the Great Plague. I was wrong. This is an atmospheric, location filmed, movie with terrific direction by Jennifer Nichols, really impressive cinematography by Ash Tailor Jones and very effective sound design by Geoff Sirett.”

    - John Gilks, OPERA RAMBLINGS, Sweat film

  • "Nichols dances with the ferocity of a succubus, a female demon who frightens away dreams. Her movements are sharp, spiky and angular. They careen all over the performing space, bouncing off the floor and steaming up the mirrors on which the dancer has scribbled a diatribe in red ink – choreography made word."

    - Deirdre Kelly, CRITICS AT LARGE-  Canadian Art Song Project- Sewing the Earthworm 

  • "Working in conjunction with Ivany, choreographer Jennifer Nichols has added a sinewy, sensuous layer of physicality, an overarching passion play, part modern dance, part Baroque posture."

    - Ian Ritchie, Opera Going Toronto, Against the Grain Theatre- ‘Messiah’ 

  • "Nichols' dancing was stellar #AsPerUsual. Her grace and strength and intuition are perfect for moving to pieces like these. Her contemporary/lyric style was made for this kind of material…It was also really nice to see Jennifer in pointe shoes. In what was probably my favourite number dance-wise, we see the power and grace Jennifer possesses when she's using her classical technique in a more overt manner. There was a moment, which is something I'm not actually sure I've ever seen in person, where in relevée, on full pointe, she stood completely still. No fluttering no balance or pas de bourrée just straight up strength, poise and balance. Simply delicious."

    - Greg Finney, SCHMOPERA- FAWN Chamber Creative-  Synesthesia IV  (Choreographer & Dancer)

  • "I was especially moved by the Poulenc, a flamboyant solo by Cesaroni , illuminated by Nichols’ dance. This is a very daring piece of work, a kind of negative virtuosity, where Nichols illustrates a very precarious existence, literally balanced on the edge of falling. She’s a negative image of the singer, taking us to psychological depths that are only implicit or shadows of the surface we experience in the text of the song...

    Nichols’ willingness to allow herself to be by turns contorted or grotesquely exposed takes her movement beyond mere dance. This is the obverse of the usual in ballet or dance recitals, when the performers are all so uniformly beautiful that one comes to demand beauty at every turn, and where the expectation of virtuosity that is a kind of display tyrannizes the performers, requiring spectacular physicality and beauty. It’s also nicely transgressive to see non-dancers dancing."

    - Leslie Barcz, BARCZA BLOG-  In.Set- Extensions of Us (choreographer & dancer)

  • "I want to mention Jennifer Nichols, whose choreography goes beyond anything I’ve ever seen in an opera… Nichols creates a world populated by dancers and amateurs alike, graceful and empowered whether they’re in dancing shoes or not…I’m reminded of Pina Bausch whose wonderfully moral influence can be seen in Nichols’ willingness to work with bodies of every age, shape, and fitness level, a democratic world that’s genuinely representative of everyone and not just the elite few."

    - Leslie Barcza, BARCZA BLOG- Opera 5- Die Fledermaus (Choreographer)

  • “The choreography by Jennifer Nichols was superbly danced by her and Justin De Bernardi. A lyric contemporary styling that blooms from a naturalistic, contemporary posture.”

    - SCHMOPERA, In.Set - Extensions of Us

  • “I was especially moved by the Poulenc, a flamboyant solo by Cesaroni, illuminated by Nichols’ dance. This is a very daring piece of work, a kind of negative virtuosity, where Nichols illustrates a very precarious existence, literally balanced on the edge of falling…Nichols’ willingness to allow herself to be by turns contorted or grotesquely exposed takes her movement beyond mere dance.”

    - BARCZA BLOG, In.Set- Extensions of Us

  • “I was expecting, I think, something like a video of the stage show along the lines of all those things we watched with mixed feelings during the Great Plague. I was wrong. This is an atmospheric, location filmed, movie with terrific direction by Jennifer Nichols, really impressive cinematography by Ash Tailor Jones and very effective sound design by Geoff Sirett.”

    - John Gilks, OPERA RAMBLINGS, Sweat film

  • “It’s a rare thing that an opera holds power both as a live art form and on screen. …As a film, it’s stylized yet real, a true and earthy story told through a lens of beauty; Palmer’s gorgeous harmonies and Chatterton’s evocative words and and Nichols’ choreography that drapes bodies like the swish of fabric. …And since it’s also Nichols’ feature film directorial debut, it’s worth noting how effective the climactic scene is, how she leans into the heartbreaking beauty in the singers even as a nightmare unfolds."

    - Jenna Simeonov, SCHMOPERAA, Sweat film

GALLERY OF THE WORK