Biography
Jessi began dancing when she was three years old. After growing up with dance in Ozark, MO, she moved to Kansas City to attend the Conservatory of Music and Dance at UMKC. In 2008, she received her BFA in Dance Performance. After graduating, she became an adjunct faculty member for the dance department at UMKC. She also began dancing with a local Kansas City company called Quixotic. After dancing with Quixotic for a year, an opportunity arose for her to perform an aerial dance on the side of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Since the over whelming success of Surfaces she continued performing many different aerial acts with Quixotic in multiple venues. Realizing the challenges and the beauty that aerial dancing brings, she continues training, to learn other aerial forms, expanding her repertoire to include silks, lycra, net, hammock, and spinner. Wanting to branch out of the mid-west in search of other opportunities, Jessi moved to the west coast in 2010. Jessi would like to thank Willamette University for this opportunity to share her love for aerial dance.