Jessica (Jess) brings infectious energy and genuine warmth to every lesson, rooted in a deep belief that dance can change people\u2019s lives.<\/b><\/p>\n
She began training in ballet, jazz, musical theater, modern and contemporary at the age of 4. At 15, she discovered ballroom and fell in love, going on to compete Pro\/Am through her teens and earning titles including 1st Place Junior Rhythm, 1st Place Junior Smooth, and Junior Finalist in both Standard and Latin.<\/b><\/p>\n
Jess went on to attend the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, earning her BFA in Dance with a focus in Jazz and Contemporary. She spent five years dancing professionally in New York, with highlights including the Opening Ceremony of the 2023 World University Games and a 2024 featured dancer role with CR Dance Company in San Lucido, Italy. She returning home to Fort Myers in 2025, and was a featured dancer at the Sarasota Salsa & Bachata Festival. Her return home led her back to the ballroom floor, where she found Fred Astaire Fort Myers.<\/b><\/p>\n
For Jess, dance is about connection, confidence, and discovering something in yourself you didn\u2019t know was there. She loves meeting students exactly where they are, whether that\u2019s a first lesson or refining performance choreography.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Jess is also a certified Pilates instructor, bringing that expertise to her students at Fred Astaire to help build body awareness and renewed confidence both on and off the dance floor.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8017,"template":"","class_list":["post-8015","team_member","type-team_member","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/ft-myers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/team_member\/8015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/ft-myers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/team_member"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/ft-myers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/team_member"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/ft-myers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/team_member\/8015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/ft-myers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/ft-myers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}