J-A-C-K-L-E-A-N. Mariana Valencia writes the title in big letters in the air, spanning the width of the stage. “Jacklean,” she states as she waves her hand in front of it. She pause, looks out at the audience, and does it again… in case you forgot.
“Jacklean (in rehearsal)” is a new work by Valencia that harnesses the essence of dance, standup and improv into one energetic piece. The work, which made its Los Angeles premiere at REDCAT on April 24, reflects on the difference between the individual and the collective through tightly improvised segments on stage. As she riffs alongside musician Jazmin “Jazzy” Romero, Valencia uses humor to touch on deeper meditations about identity and navigating the world as a Latina and dancer.
Mariana Valencia. Jacklean (in rehearsal). 2025. With music by Jazmin “Jazzy” Romero, performed in the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Studio at The Museum of Modern Art – Photo by Maria Baranova.
The work has a misleading start. Initially beginning with interpretive movement, Valencia sways through a repeated phrase from one side of the stage to the other. Consider this as the revving her comedic improv engine. In fact, it takes a minute to realize this is humor. She delivers her statements seriously until she gives us the look. With a single glance, she gets the message across. This is funny.
“Us… we…,” she says as she explains the difference between the collective in the room and the duo on stage. “Us,” she says while waving around herself and Romero.
“We,” the audience responds as Valencia turns her waving hands up to the seats. The tone has finally been set.
Mariana Valencia. Jacklean (in rehearsal). 2025. With music by Jazmin “Jazzy” Romero, performed in the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Studio at The Museum of Modern Art – Photo by Maria Baranova.
What is marvelous about Valencia’s work is her ability to get people on board and set just the right tone for the hour to come. The piece presents a lofty task by mixing so many styles of improv together, but she proves she is in control of the machine time and time again. She captures the audience both directly and indirectly, all while telling her story one riff at a time. The piece is sharp and witty, keeping you on your toes at every corner.
In a hilarious segment, she moves through the space, twisting the torso to and fro and instructing us like we are part of an aerobics class. Her magical humor transforms the space into any environment or world she crafts with words and dance. She adds layers by turning directions and adding a new instruction: reverse when there’s a dog. She creates these energetic imaginative environments and packs it with tension by adding these new rules and narratives. She talks about the difference between dancers and monogamists, how dancers sell quirky shirts to make up funds they don’t have, the phenomenon of papyrus font, and yoga. You never know where you’ll go next. Just as much as she’s able to utilize humor to build, she is unafraid to deconstruct as well.
Mariana Valencia. Jacklean (in rehearsal). 2025. With music by Jazmin “Jazzy” Romero, performed in the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Studio at The Museum of Modern Art – Photo by Maria Baranova.
As the world gains layer after layer, the movement grows rampant, and the thoughts grow more frequent. Suddenly, the lights turn green, music resounds through REDCAT and she freezes as if she is being possessed. Lightning shoots through Valencia’s bones and brings her forward. Her eyes roll to the back of her head and her limbs tremble. The magic of comedy — whether on screen or on stage — is to know when the audience has had too much laughter. Valencia has a powerful understanding of this balance, pulling people in with chuckles and shocking them with green light and a deeper narrative underneath her antics. While it may sound like a lot of stories and elements thrown into one piece, Valencia sustains the perfect throughline that merges them together: herself.
Her authenticity peeks through as the stories get more personal. She introduces her mother with a funny story about dog strollers.
“Mija, dog strollers?” Valencia asks as her mother.
Sensing the judgement in the question, she shrugs as herself, saying, “I don’t know.”
Mariana Valencia. Jacklean (in rehearsal). 2025. With music by Jazmin “Jazzy” Romero, performed in the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Studio at The Museum of Modern Art – Photo by Maria Baranova.
Valencia pauses the performance and brings Romero onto the stage. Valencia says she made a song that she didn’t know if she’d share. Romero grabs a guitar and stands centerstage. Valencia poses around her legs as Romero sings a corrido. It’s the one time that Valencia does not speak or move. The moment is a portal to her soul. She slowly introduces her identity into the piece. All these subtleties introduce you to the duo’s Latin identities and their relationship to it. They give the piece a special buoyancy that leads Valencia to one last vulnerable story.
Her movement settles to a softer flow and she talks about going to an event at Performance Space New York. Everyone danced to the music, until a Latin song played. All the white people left the dance floor while the six brown people stayed. She reflects on this moment of being watched and how to make space for Latine people in institutions like PSNY. She lets the story rest and invites Romero to replicate the moment on stage.
Mariana Valencia. Jacklean (in rehearsal). 2025. With music by Jazmin “Jazzy” Romero, performed in the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Studio at The Museum of Modern Art – Photo by Maria Baranova.
“Jacklean (in rehearsal)” is a smart and witty dissection of the self. Valencia expands the bounds of her performance abilities alongside Romero to bring us into her mind with a stream of consciousness depicted through dance. With the performance, she proves that we are constantly in rehearsal in our daily lives, unearthing and learning about who we are and what that means in the spaces we inhabit. In the piece she talks about seeing someone and how you want to keep seeing them again. Although “Jacklean” is frequently directed toward the audience with text and movement, her final dance with Romero solidifies that we were simply a mirror. The difference between “us” and “we” is in action. This rehearsal was not just a performance. It was about finding the mirror to see and experience her authentic self — her authentic “us”— again.
To learn more about Mariana Valencia, please visit her website.
For more information about REDCAT, please visit their website.
Written by Steven Vargas for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: Mariana Valencia. Jacklean (in rehearsal). 2025. With music by Jazmin “Jazzy” Romero, performed in the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Studio at The Museum of Modern Art – Photo by Maria Baranova.
