Janelle has taught Afro-Brazilian dance at festivals and colleges throughout
the country, including Cornish College of the Arts, Antioch College,
Evergreen State College, Whitman College, Sarah Lawrence College, and the
University of Washington. She also teaches children's programs for the
Ethnic Heritage Council's International Dance Program,
the Northwest Folklife Festival Youth Program, South Sound Kids
Drum and Dance, and the Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Janelle studied Brazilian dance at the Universidade
Federal da Bahia and with Filhos de Ghandy in Salvador, Brazil. She has
also travelled to Santiago, Cuba to intern with the renowned Cutumba Dance
Company. She dances professionally thoughout the Northwest, performing
both folkloric (traditional) and contemporary Brazilian dances. Notable public
performances include a featured guest spot with the New York City group DanceBrazil during their Seattle tour,
and as lead dancer and choreographer for the tribute to Latin American baseball players performed at the 2001 All-Star game at Safeco Field.
Currently, Janelle serves as dance director and choreographer of the
Seattle-based Samba group GiraSol, performing widely for both
corporate and public events. Whenever possible, she takes her classroom "into the community",
providing students the opportunity to perform at festivals such as
Bumbershoot, Follklife, Brazilfest, and at popular Seattle-area parades, including the Fremont Solstice and Pioneer Square Mardi Gras Parades.
Supporting Janelle's dance instruction is her rich background in movement
therapy. She is a certified Feldenkrais® practitioner, teaching Somatic
Education at Antioch College and Awareness Through Movement at Southern
Methodist University Theatre Department, Bastyr University, the Bush School,
and a number of colleges. Her private practice in Feldenkrais Functional
Integration focuses on both recovery from injuries and on movement-related
concerns. Janelle is also a certified yoga instructor, and applies these
skills of observation, accelerated learning and increased awareness to
her teaching. (For more information about Janelle's individual and group
instruction in movement based on theFeldenkrais Method®, visit her
Seattle Feldenkrais website.)
In all of her instruction, Janelle uses our innate ability to learn most effectively when we are having fun.
