Bio

Jess taught ballet and tap with an anatomy book, flashcards and a skeleton poster for over a decade, but when she found the Ballet Blog it all finally came together. She creates video "workshops" for her students and telecommutes to her dance classes at Balance Point in Broussard, Louisiana. When not in Louisiana, she studies under dance and fitness experts near her home in Pasadena, California. She has also completed the Sugarfoot Therapy teacher training workshop, which helps dance teachers develop personalized cross training exercises for their dancers, based on movement assessments and specific knowledge of muscular inefficiencies. Her choreography has appeared at Louisiana recitals, shows and venues such as Lafayette’s Steampunk Festival, Louisiana Kids performances and Acadiana Village’s Noel Acadien. She creates ballet reproductions of classic stories with a twist, including the Lion King, Cinderella and The Nutcracker. She also creates mini "ballet stories" for primary and beginner classes which train basic ballet movements while maintaining the sense of joy and movement found in imaginative play.

Testimonial

At the end of the workshop, Lisa told me "everything is going to start making sense now," and that's exactly what happened - not just for me, but my students as well. I've created and shared a few "intensives" with my students, which seems to work really well. I've also begun replacing warmup exercises a little at a time, with great results.