Janis Walker began dancing at the early age of 3. She attended Alton Dance Academy in Alton, NH under the direction of Ashley Dowling for 16 years training in ballet, pointe, jazz, modern, contemporary, character, and dance history. Here she went on to perform lead roles including Smee in “Peter Pan” and Anna in “A Frozen Tale” while also finding her love for teaching through teacher assisting. She graduated high school with an honors induction into the National Honor’s Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA). Through this membership she was recognized for her artistic merit, academic achievements, and leadership skills throughout her educational experiences. Janis has recently graduated from Dean College’s Joan Phelps Palladino School of Dance in Franklin, MA with her Bachelor of the Arts in Dance Pedagogy with a minor in psychology and a collegiate induction into NHSDA. During her time at Dean, she studied various dance techniques from expert faculty including Jill Silverman, Roshni Pecora, Sheramy Teegan-Turcotte, Kristina Berger, and Lindsey Klein. She also took various pedagogy courses from Jill Silverman, Luciano Aimar, and Stephen Tracey-Ursprung. Janis also spent her senior year researching the impact of storytelling within dance classes for young children.
Janis’s teaching experience includes teaching a pre-jazz class as well as both intermediate and advanced summer intensives at Alton Dance Academy, as well as interning at the Boston Ballet School during their Ballet Arts & Exploration summer program. Janis’s mission as a dance teacher is to foster a positive learning environment using her passion for dance to instill a lifelong love and appreciation for dance within her students.