About CMD

Cat Machines Dance was created in 2012 under the artistic direction of Jen Costillo. Its mission is to develop works that openly explore today and tomorrow’s social issues. The company looks towards the future using and debating current technology to create statements about ethics, politics, and community. The company regularly works with visual, musical, fabric and technology artists to develop unique dance pieces to draw in the audience.

About the Artistic Director

Jen Costillo is a multifocal artist with a deep background in classical ballet, contemporary and modern dance. When she is not dancing, she is also a hardware reverse engineer and voiceover actor concerned with the daily ethical and social impacts of these paradigms.

Costillo has been both a performing and choreographic member of High Release Dance collective, Artist Edge, and the Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble, including its performance at the Egyptian Modern Dance Festival in Cairo and Alexandria. Previous roles include the Nutcracker as Drosselmeyer and Raul Salamanca’s contemporary ballet pieces. During her multiple decades in the Bay Area over two decades, she has explored contemporary dance techniques with Jeannine Charles, Raissa Simpson, and the FactSF summer intensive, as well as contemporary ballet with Rika Onizuka. She has trained under Linda Rickert, Marny Trounson, Carmela Peter, Zoltan Peter, and Gloria Mohr.

Costillo served on the founding board of directors for Push Dance Company in San Francisco. In 2019, she earned the SJDanceCo’s Choreoproject Award for “Optional.” She self-produced her first show in 2023.

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