Jess has been dancing since she was 2 and started teaching at Rising Star at only seventeen. She is trained in numerous genres of dance including ballet, jazz, tap, modern, and lyrical.She danced competitively for Rehearsal School of Dance at age 12 and then took classes and competed for Rising Star her junior and senior year of high school. While attending Natrona County High School she was a member of the Natrona County Dance Team and performed in several musicals including Man of La Mancha and Bye, Bye Birdie. She graduated from Casper College, where, in addition to taking every dance class she could, she played Potiphar’s Wife in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and also served as the dance captain for the production. Jess attended the University of Wyoming on a full dance scholarship. She performed in numerous shows at UW, including Vedauwoo Lichen (a Vertical Dance show), Dance Y2K, and several student choreographed and produced shows. She attended the American College Dance Festival (ACDF) three times. Jess graduated from UW with a bachelor’s in Humanities and Fine Arts emphasizing in Theatre and Dance, History, English and Spanish with a minor in History. She then spent three years in Colorado Springs where she taught at Kathryn Grant’s Dance Connection and was a guest choreographer for the High Altitude Dance Ensemble. Jess has taught classes at Studio 10 Dance in San Jose, California, and at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. While living in Kansas City, Missouri, she taught dance at Pulse Performing Arts Center, Forever Jody’s School of Dance, United Dance, and the Talent Factory. Jess returned to Casper in 2007 and is very excited to return to Rising Star! Her passion is contemporary dance and her approach to teaching is very organic. She has attended Dance Web Live teacher training in Las Vegas and Dance Ideas Seminar in LA. Jess has choreographed numerous award-winning competition routines over the past ten years. She is also the Group Fitness Director and a Licensed Massage Therapist at the Wyoming Athletic Club, where she was also formerly a Personal Trainer. Jess holds over ten fitness certifications, including but not limited to Zumba, Strong by Zumba, Sport Yoga, Kickboxing, and has an extensive knowledge of biology, kinesiology, and athletic training, all of which she incorporates into her dance instruction. Jess also loves skiing in the winter, and biking and kayaking in the summer with her amazing family. They are self-proclaimed nerds who love gaming, especially World of Warcraft. We are so honored to have Jess back with us as part of our Rising Star team!