Art / Fine Arts

Hi, I’m Jessie and saying I love to dance is the understatement of the century. I have been dancing since I was in diapers and have been teaching dance for over 20 years. I am a former US-UK Fulbright Scholar with an MA in Dance Studies from University of Roehampton, London and a BS in Dance Performance from Southern Utah University. In my younger years, I danced professionally with Holland America and Carnival Cruise Lines traveling all over the world. Prior to joining the faculty at Olympus, I spent 11 years teaching dance at The Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts where I also served as the assistant department director of dance, resident musical choreographer, musical administrative director, and shadow day coordinator. During my time there, I developing a jazz based dance curriculum for the high school level, publishing sections of my work in Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century in 2022. I am certified as Giordano Jazz instructor (®NGCP), yoga instructor, and party planner 🙂 When I’m not dancing I am hanging with my fantastic family, visiting coffee shops, and listening to cultural history podcasts. I am so excited to be on the Performing Arts Faculty at OHS and to serve as the director of the dance companies.