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Dance Plus Staff |  ~ Jamell Jacobs CEO~ JamellJacobs@danceplus.org
Jamell is the owner of Dance Plus! She has studied dance for 16 years. Her areas of study include Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip-Hop, Gymnastics, Tap, Cheerleading, Pointe, Modern, and Dunham. Prior to college she competed in many gymnastics, cheerleading, and dance competitions and received many top honors. Jamell went to Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville on a dance scholarship and graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education and a Minor in Dance. In college, she performed in many dance productions along with touring with the University Dance Company. Following graduation, Jamell began working as a third grade teacher and danced professionally with the IBL St. Louis Swarm dancers. Jamell spent almost 11 of her 16 years studying and teaching, at Dance Plus. She later moved west to diversify her dance experience, and studied in many prominent places with leading instructors and choreographers in the Los Angeles area. While in L.A. Jamell also retained a position as a Healthy Lifestyles Director of a YMCA, in which she helped to develop health and fitness programming for children and adults. While there, she was also able to launch the Gardena-Carson branch youth dance program. These experiences offered her the opportunity to work with over 2000 community members to aid in their efforts to better health! Jamell is truly excited about this chapter and challenge in her life at Dance Plus! |
~ Santana Tajuan Barnes ~SantanaBarnes@danceplus.orgSantana began his music career at the early age of nine studying both piano and clarinet. Rapidly excelling at both instruments, Santana quickly became one of the top young musicians in the area. By sixth grade, he was the youngest by two years to be chosen to play clarinet in the St. Louis All Suburban Band. It was then that Santana decided he wanted to be as versatile a musician as possible. By the time he graduated high school, he had mastered the clarinet and alto saxophone, as well as became very proficient with brass instruments and marching percussion. In fact, Santana instructed the Riverview Gardens Drum Line in 1996 while still a senior at the high school. In the fall of 96’, he went on to attend the University of Missouri in Columbia where he began studying engineering and computers. While at the university, he played alto saxophone in a number of jazz ensembles and marched for two years with the Mizzou Marching Tigers. Santana also directed, choreographed, and participated in a number of Delta After Dark talent shows, as well as danced with the performance group ‘Shades’. Santana returned to his hometown of St. Louis, MO in May of 2001 to pursue a singing career in R&B. While still in industry pursuit, he has developed a love for instructing youth in music, life skills, and other areas of education. He was the founder and director of the Garfield Drum Line at Garfield Elementary, and is currently in the process of completing his undergraduate studies in Secondary Education with a minor in Music Theory and Performance. Santana teaches Drumline and Musical Theater at Dance Plus. ~ Cindy Calender ~ CindyCalender@danceplus.orgCindy enjoys the arts greatly and has been trained in Ballet, Jazz, Tap and Tumbling beginning at the age of four. Years following, she developed a desire for gymnastics and competed with Olympiad North gymnastic training center. She danced with the McCluer North Pom squad her freshmen year, but later found a greater passion for cheerleading and remained a cheerleader for the last 3 years of high school. In that time, she became captain and was awarded super star cheerleader at UCA camp. All of this exposure has given Cindy that confidence to perform in front of crowds, which in turn allowed her to audition and dance for the semi-pro basketball team, the St. Louis Swarm. While on the Swarm dance team, their squad was asked to be half-time entertainment for the Joe Torre celebrity basketball game and the exhibition game for the Knicks vs the 76ers. After the season ended, Cindy left her hometown of St. Louis with friends to move to the City of Angels. During her time in Los Angeles, she had the opportunity to take classes from some of the most recognized and talented instructors in the dance arena. Cindy is teaching Cheer & Pom and Tumbling at Dance Plus. She is ecstatic about bringing energy and excitement to both of her classes. ~ Erica Jones ~ EricaJones@danceplus.orgErica was a cheerleader for McCluer North High School for 4 years. In her sophomore year she was picked as a nominee for All-American Cheerleader for the National Cheerleaders’ Association. She was a captain in her senior year. At the University of Missouri – St. Louis, Erica was on the dance team that performed at basketball games. Erica has been a member of dance groups that have opened for Busta Rhymes, the St. Lunatics, and Trina. Erica’s background also includes gymnastics and personal training. Erica has worked as a Personal Trainer at New Lady Fitness since 1995. At NLF, Erica also works as a Hip-Hop and Low Impact Aerobics Instructor. From February 2003 until May 2004, Erica worked as a personal trainer and nutrition coach at Imagine/Turning Point Weight Loss Center. She obtained her Personal Trainer and Advanced Personal Training Certifications in 2003 from AFAA. Erica is also certified in TurboKick Aerobics. She specializes in nutrition counseling, circuit training and resistance training. Erica was a St. Louis Rams Cheerleader from 1996 to 2001. As a cheerleader, she performed in Japan, the Bahamas and the 2000 Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta. Erica teaches Cheer & Pom at Dance Plus. ~ Matthew Lievers ~ MatthewLievers@danceplus.orgInfluenced by the MTV/Video generation, Matt has been dancing as long as he can remember; either in his bedroom as a little boy or on a stage in front of anyone who would watch. He has had many influences over the years that has helped his style of dance evolve, but would compare it to a fusion of video, street, hip/hop, and funk Matt has danced and choreographed numerous pieces for University of Edwardsville's dance department from 1996 through 2002. He performed in the Youth Convention of 2000 held in St. Louis at the Edward Jones Dome with an audience of 30,000 people. Matt took his love for dance and entertainment to the next level and moved to Los Angeles, CA in the summer of 2000 where he took class, performed and choreographed all over the city. Matt also had the opportunity to record a demo CD. He was involved in the Emmy Awards show in 2000, appeared in two television shows "Charmed" and "Titans" and performed in the West Hollywood Halloween festival "The Carnival". He regularly put performances together for a local hot spot "Rage" and taught dance classes at 24 Hour Fitness and Millennium Dance Studio. Matt teaches Hip-Hop at Dance Plus and is excited about sharing his love for dance! ~ Brittany Wallace ~ BrittanyWallace@danceplus.orgBrittany has danced for 9 years at Dance Plus. She has studied Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Modern, Hip-Hop and Poms. She has competed in many competitions receiving a highlight award with the title of “Stand out Dancer” in 2003 at State-Wide National Dance Competition. Brittany is a senior at Hazelwood Central High School and has been a Hawkette for 3 years. In the summer of 2005, she was selected as an “All Star” dancer at UDA Dance Camp. After graduation, Brittany would like to pursue Nursing in college and minor in Dance. She has worked as an assistant teacher for the past 3 years. Brittany teaches “baby” combination classes this year and is very excited about working with her “tiny” dancers!
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