BIO
“The liveliest and most charismatic figure in the national and international jazz scene"
- Toma Jazz
This Boston born jazz show woman began performing as a pre-teen in musicals, studying voice at P.A.S.O.W. and acting with the Worcester Children’s Theater Teen Rep Company. After receiving her B.A. in Performing Arts from Bradford College, she continued her studies with a diploma in Dance Composition from the Hartford Conservatory where she studied with jazz vocalist Giacomo Gates and produced her first full work based on the work of François Prévost: Les Caracteres de L’amour: “An XVIII story of love performed with live original music from ballet to hip-hop”
Having completed her Studies and performed throughout the Northeast with companies such as MGM studios, Fox T.V., NETC, New London Barn Playhouse, Worcester Foothills Theater, T.J. JAZZ was hired as the Choreographer and Dance Instructor for The Festival du Jeune Theatre in France in 2004 and has been singing, dancing and teaching in Europe ever since. She has collaborated with such entities as The Juan March Foundation (Madrid) El Teatro Nacional (Dominican Republic), The European Film Festival (Seville), Madrid Department of Culture (Madrid), Deutschen Institut für Improvisation (Germany), University of Karlstad (Sweden), EnVibop (Soria, Spain), Jazzazza Jazz Festival (Murcia, Spain), Mirajazz Festival (Miranda de Ebro, Spain), and various locations throughout Andalucía (Southern Spain).
A lively, dedicated and experienced Instructor with over thirteen years teaching performing arts. Tap Dance has been her genre of focus since 2007 -teaching workshops throughout Spain as well as regular classes in Madrid. With a strong love for movement and rhythm, and belief that they are inseparable, her classes focus on that relationship and fully comprehending the tools students possess to be able truly enjoy and express freely through their art. To continue learning and growing, she takes ballet and modern classes whenever possible. She has been fortunate to have participated in classes, workshops and festival Intensives with Ludovico Hombravella, Roxane Butterfly, Jennifer Ruest, Rubén Sanchez, Michelle Dorrance, Chloe Arnold, Jason Samuels Smith, Heather Cornell, Jason Janas, Thanos Daskalopoulos, Sam Weber, ….
T.J. Jazz has been promoting and moving tap in Madrid since co-founding the MadTapJam Session alongside Ludovico Hombravella in 2009. With the inicial intention of providing the opportunity for tappers to perform, improvise and interact with live musicians and other tappers, the MadTapJam Sessions have become an important community meeting point and reference for new collaborations and ideas. The MAD TAP FEST was one of those ideas, and since it’s first edition has brought visiting artists and tap professionals from Germany, Finland, Greece, Canada, U.S.A., Mexico, Russia, Australia and from all over Spain.