DJS STAFF
Miss Jen
Favorite Style of dance: Contemporary to watch, Tap to teach
Favorite Restaurant:Firepit
Favorite Food: Lamb Shank
Favorite place to visit: Cruise to the Caribbean
Miss Jen began dancing at the age of 8 at a local studio. By age 11, she was chosen to be part of the competition team. She attended many dance competitions in places such as Charleston, WV, Columbus, Myrtle Beach, and Orlando, winning many awards over the years. By the age of 16, Miss Jen began teaching. She has taught ages ranging from 20 months to 86 years. She has also choreographed for Greensburg Civic Theatre, Norwin Chorus, Norwin Middle School East Theatre Club, and Norwin High School Show Choir.
Miss Jen is a Norwin Show Choir and Chorus Alum. Yes, she can sing too! As a Norwin Show Choir member, she performed and/or competed in Canada, Cedar Point, the Harrisburg Capital Building, and at the Washington Monument. She also participated in County Chorus, District Chorus, & the Choir of Cultural Diversity during high school. Her musical credits include Anything Goes (Purity), Crazy for You (Louise), and Bye Bye Birdie (Kim). She was also a member of Steel City Angels dance troupe for a year.
Performing arts has always been her passion with dance being her 1st love. She has obtained Cecchetti 1 & 2 certification and has participated in many local dance conventions as well as Dance Teacher Workshops in New York City. She has taken classes from such well known choreographers as Bob Rizzo, Brian Freidman, Desmond Richardson,Ian Eastwood, and Pittsburgh native Jeff Shade, to name a few. Miss Jen has also judged for the Yough Dance Team auditions. In 2010 she was part of the Gotta Dance Hip Hop
Miss Mia
Favorite Style of dance: Hip Hop
Favorite Restaurant: Cenacolo
Favorite Food: Homemade Pasta
Favorite place to visit: Italy
Miss Mia began her dancing career at the young age of 5. It was love at first step. When she was 8 she was chosen to be on a competition line. She has competed all over the country including; Las Vegas, Florida, New Jersey and Myrtle Beach. Miss Mia has won many awards while competing including a First Place Overall for her jazz solo. In 2007 Miss Mia was chosen to perform on a National Performance Team in Wildwood, NJ for their National Competition. Aside from the studio dancing Miss Mia was a member of her college dance team. She was on of the founding members and also Captain while on the La Roche Competition Team. While on the team Miss Mia and the team won many awards including State Championships for Jazz and Hip Hop. Miss Mia continues her passion for dance at Dancin J's and hopes to inspire and teach new dancers at Dancin J's for many years to come.
Miss Kylee
Favorite Style of dance: It's hard to pick just one, but I would say Jazz is my favorite.
Favorite Restaurant: I do not have a favorite restaurant. Italian food is my favorite.
Favorite Food: Chicken Parmesan
Favorite place to visit: The beach for sure! My favorite vacation spot is Hutchinson Island in Florida
Miss Kylee began dancing at the age of 4. A few years later she became one of Miss Jen's students. During her years as a student, Miss Kylee trained in jazz, tap, ballet, pointe, hip hip, acro, and gymnastics. Under Miss Jen's instruction, she soon began competing. She attended competitions in the Pittsburgh area as well as in Charleston, WV.
Miss Kylee attended college at The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown where she was a member of the UPJ Dance Ensemble.
Miss Kylee has attended the 2015 Pulse Workshop for teachers in New York City. She has taken classes in person and online through Broadway Dance Center in New York. She has been instructed by several well-known choreographers, including Deborah Wilson, Sheila Barker, Chris Judd, and Dave Scott, to name a few. She has also proudly obtained certifications from CLI Studios and Dance Labs.
Miss Kylee has choreographed multiple award winning routines, achieving awards such as top scoring duet/trio, top scoring group numbers, & several outstanding choreography awards.
Miss Kylee loves dancing and is glad to be a member of Dancin' J's family.
Miss Mollie
Favorite Style of dance: Hiphop & Contemporary
Favorite Restaurant: Applebees
Favorite Food: Breakfast Foods
Favorite place to visit: The beach!
Miss Mollie started dancing at the age of 1 and 1/2. She watched her older sister perform and that is when she started to love dance. In 2011, at the age of 7, Miss Mollie was asked to be on the competition team for jazz, where she performed “Hair Looks Fierce”. This dance won her the first of many awards. She went on to be on the competition team for 11 years, where she won many different awards for different dances. Miss Mollie was one of our student teachers helping a variety of teachers with classes, but now that she has graduated, she's ready to take the jump and have her own classes. #slaythestage
Miss Nicole
Favorite Style of dance: -
Favorite Restaurant: -
Favorite Food: -
Favorite place to visit: -
Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Nicole Jones has a diverse dance background in ballet, jazz, modern, and Broadway styles. She first experienced dance with the Sacred Heart Junior Tamburitzans and transitioned into formal ballet training with companies including Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and American Ballet Theater. Nicole holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Dance and in History from Point Park University.
Nicole instructs all ages in ballet, modern, jazz, and Broadway styles. She has taught for numerous dance schools and programs, including the Kelly Strayhorn Theater (PGH), Peridance Capezio Center (NYC), Mile Square Theatre (NYC) and American Dance Training Camps (US).
Professional dance credits include working with Vertigo Dance Company’s international program (Israel), August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble (PGH), DanceAction (NYC), Shana Simmons Dance (PGH) and performing the works of Noa Wertheim, Ohad Naharin, Martha Graham, Christopher Huggins, Gerald Arpino, Douglas Bentz, and Patrick Franz among others. Professional theater credits include SWING! (Norwegian Cruise Line – West Coast Feature), Legally Blonde the Musical (2019 Nat’l Tour – Chutney/Dance Captain), An American in Paris (2020, 2022 Nat’l Tours – Female Swing/Lise u/s/Dance Captain), Mamma Mia! (Apple Hill/Theatre Factory - Dance Ensemble), South Pacific (2022 Nat’l Tour – Ensign Janet/ on-stage swing/Dance Captain), Rock of Ages (Split Stage Productions – Ensemble).
Miss Sunni
Favorite Style of dance: Contemporary
Favorite Restaurant: Atami Japan
Favorite Food: Ravioli
Favorite place to visit:Target
Miss Sunni has been dancing for over 10 years at Dancin J’s Studio. She started at age 3 and has had a passion for it ever since. Sunni has finished multiple CLI certifications and plans on furthering her dance career at Seton Hill University.
Miss McKenna
Favorite Style of dance: It’s hard to choose but the most favorite styles I go towards are Contemporary and acro.
Favorite Restaurant: Applebees
Favorite Food: Chicken broccoli alfredo
Favorite place to visit:Florida or Dallas Texas
Miss Mckenna is a junior at Seton Hill University. Her major is pre-dance movement therapy and has a lot of dance and acro background. She has been doing gymnastics and acro for 18 years. Her dance background started 17 years ago with jazz, tap, and ballet. Her training included The Dancers Workshop 1 and 2 for 14 years and Susan Yadimak Academy for 3 years. Mckenna had the privilege of dancing in Disney during her senior year and will never forget it. While taking other classes at Fitness Envi and WDA over the summer to maintain her skills. She is counting her dance journey and is advanced in acro, jazz, and contemporary/ lyrical. Over the years McKenna has taught lots of kids in cheerleading and gymnastics. Before COVID, she taught ages 2ys- 15 years old at Willow Tree Gymnastics and has been a youth cheerleading coach for 4 years and a jr coach for over 6 years. While gaining her certification through USA GYmnastics and CPR certification. She is very driven and always puts her best foot forward. While maintaining multiple activities at once during elementary school and high school helped her become the person she is today. Her main goal is to make sure everyone feels welcome and always has fun because that’s what dance is all about. I can’t wait to be part of this wonderful dance family and I look forward to seeing you guys in the fall :)
Miss Jaden
Favorite Style of dance: contemporary to choreograph, lyrical for solos and hiphop jazz and musical theater to perform
Favorite Restaurant: chick fil a or raising canes
Favorite Food: chicken tenders
Favorite place to visit: hawaii was the best but bermuda was so pretty