—  Meet Denise Yolén  —

Fresh. Refined. Free in mind. A woman to capture the essence of a moment.
 

When Denise Yolén moved to New York, NY to study Drama at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, the vibe was infectious. A love affair began. While there, she studied at the Experimental Theater Wing, a studio known for facilitating artist's individuality through self scripting and physically based acting. As new ways to find her voice emerged, so did her passion for writing and singing. She began working her way through the independent theater circuit, writing and performing in a number of plays. Her first play They Do Not Know Me... was a highlight at TheaterLab's New Playwrights Festival, where she portrayed "Giana" a bold, unapologetic woman in a deep search to discover her own personal truths in her love life. As a member of Theatre 68, she performed in two of the companies main stages, What Gives You The Right? and Dracula at the Arthur Seelen Theater on 42nd street. Shortly after, she began making her transition to film with a short entitled A Little Tied Up produced by critically acclaimed Michael Hausman and directed by Garette Henson.

Denise currently resides in Los Angeles, California and has been featured in a number of independent films, most notably, her very first feature film Sundays in July directed by Joseph Austin. Sundays in July follows the course of a relationship of two lovers in three acts. Sundays in July has screened at Milwaukee Film Festival, Noir Film Festival, Toronto Black Film festival, Halifax Black Film Festival, Seattle Black Film Festival, Harlem International Film Festival, Calgary Black Film Festival, and Capital City Black Film Festival in which Sundays won the award for Best Feature. Sundays also won the award for Outstanding Panavision Feature and Denise earned a nomination for Outstanding Writing and won the award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature at the Micheaux Film Festival.  Denise was seen in LA Times Critics Choice Scraps at The Matrix Theater portraying “Aisha”, a role she received an Ovation award nomination for. She was also seen in Jean Claude van Itallie’s The Serpent at The Odyssey Theater.

Denise is a mentor in her spare time, helping students find their creative voices through writing and filmmaking. She is also a food enthusiast, diving into new cultures through fine foods and finer cocktails. No matter where in the world you may find her, the pulse of New York thrives in all of her artistic endeavors; ultimately authenticity is key. Her work consistently explores and challenges the ways in which finding one's truth is the basis of all true love.