Jilian Pena Hit by Auto in NYC

[Marlon Barrios Solano]

From the New York Post:

An accomplished dancer, choreographer and artist was struck and critically injured by an unlicensed driver as she crossed a rain-slicked Brooklyn street yesterday.

Jillian D. Peña, 28 - a doctoral candidate in fine arts in London who got her MA at the Art Institute of Chicago - was in critical condition after getting hit at around 11 a.m. at Myrtle and Marcy avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

…

Peña is a National Merit Scholar who is pursuing a Ph.D. in performance studies, according to her online profile. “Mothership,” which she choreographed, was performed at the Dance Theater Workshop last spring.

Writing about her National Hispanic Merit scholarship, she says on a foundation Web site that “although I had always identified myself as Hispanic, this was the first time it had been thrust towards me from the outside as something that set me apart.”

“I am a female Hispanic/Scandinavian performance artist, but simultaneously, and more simply, I am an American artist.”

Jillian’s friend’s have started a blog to keep everyone abreast of progress. Here is the link:
friendsofjillian.blogspot.com

Jillian was one the first artist interviewed by dance-tech.net for her premiere at DTW for the Spring Season 2008.
see interview here:

Find more videos like this on dance-tech.net
All my positive thoughts to Jillian, her family and friends.
Marlon