Janelle Holmes is a professional dancer with a passion for teaching. Janelle is from Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania where she grew up training in numerous styles of dance at Contempro Dance Theatre. During the summers, Janelle studied ballet technique at The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Over the succeeding four years, she earned her Bachelor's of Fine Arts from University of Hartford in May of 2020, with a focus in ballet pedagogy. While attending The Hartt School, Janelle performed in several main stage shows, and performed as a guest artist with Ballet Hartford.
Janelle’s time at Hartt afforded her the opportunity to study ballet, contemporary, composition, and classical modern technique, as well as perform works by Martha Graham, José Limón, Paul Taylor, George Balanchine, Michelle Thompson-Ulerich, Lar Lubovitch, Katie Stevinson-Nollet, Ralph Perkins, and Stephen Pier. In addition to her studies at Hartt, Janelle had opportunities to travel study at San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and Henny Jurriëns Studio in Amsterdam for summer programs, where she focused on Gaga and improvisation.
Additionally, Janelle has held various internships focused on teaching dance in the Hartford area. Janelle is involved with artistic outreach programs such as Spectrum in Motion and The Prism Project, practicing movement and music therapy with students with exceptionalities.
Currently, Janelle is dancing professionally with BoSoma Dance Company in Hamilton, Massachusetts, where she just finished up her first season with them. When not in company rehearsals, Janelle is teaching for both the Hartt School Community Division Dance Department and The Hartt School Theatre Division, as well as various other dance studios throughout New England. She is also pursuing her Masters of Business Administration at the University of Hartford’s Barney School of Business. Related to the pursuit of her MBA, Janelle serves as an administrator for her alma mater, The Hartt School Dance Division, where she enjoys honing her business skills.
Janelle is eager to apply her knowledge and build on her professional skills at the Hartt School Summer Dance Intensive.