About the Director
Jessica has been teaching dance in Denver since 1993 and studying dance for over 20 years. During this time she has studied with some of the best in the industry, including Mia Michaels, Shane Sparks, Dave Scott, Brian Friedman, Michael Chambers and Sarah Schachterle, current choreographer for the Rockstarz. During high school, Jessica danced for two seasons on her school’s nationally ranked varsity pom pom team. Following graduation she danced for one season with the Colorado Rapids Cheerleaders and three seasons with the Denver Nuggets Dancers. During her time with the Nuggets, Jessica spent two seasons as the female lead in the Batman Stunt Show, fighting and falling off buildings! In 2007, she was crowned Mrs. Colorado International 2007 & is the current Mrs. Bear Creek. Through her work as Mrs. Colorado International, Jessica became an ambassador for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. To further her work and enable other title winners to make the most of their title, Jessica founded a charity networking organization called “The Queen’s Angels” . In 2008 she created the community organization “Project 21; After School, For School”. Project 21 takes the Studio 21 message
of “2 Parts Drive, 1 Part Dream” into schools and uses dance to teach life skills and goal setting.
As Jessica’s interests continue to evolve, in 2008 Jessica competed in her first
NPC Figure competition, placing 3rd in her division. Following her first love of teaching, in 2006 Jessica became the Director of Dance Education at Peak Athletics Plus in Highlands Ranch. Here she learned from the best on everything from marketing to studio administration. After putting together her first recital in 2007 and seeing the personal growth of her students, she decided it was time to realize her life-long dream of taking her vision into a studio of her own. As Mrs. Colorado International, Jessica found her voice as a role model for today’s youth and wanted to take her message of Integrity and Positive Self Talk into the studio and use dance to teach goal setting. As the studio motto says “2 Parts Drive, 1 Part Dream”, Jessica wanted to give her students the opportunity to succeed through life skill training and character development.
Miss Jessica is the mother of two beautiful children, Devin - age 9 & Nicky - age 3. Both are dancing fools who will surely be seen in the studio! Jessica has a diverse background including dance performance & instruction, pageantry, fitness competition, personal training & choreography, as well as an associates degree in psychology. Studio 21 has been Jessica’s dream since she was a little girl, but it was her children that inspired her to create a studio that not only teaches dance technique, but also positive self talk and skills to succeed in life. As a dancer and a mother, she wanted to create a place for young dancers, former dancers and aspiring dancers of all ages.
MARIA TUCKER
Maria began her dancing career at the age of twelve. After graduating from high school, she was awarded a dance merit scholarship to the Gus Giordano Dance Center in Evanston, IL, where she studied with teachers such as Eddie Ocampo, Jon Lehrer, Laura Wade, John Kloss, and Greg Begley. While living in the Chicago area, she performed with several production companies, including Double G Productions and X-treme Entertainment. She was also cast in Disney’s Hercules’ Summer Spectacular, at the renowned Chicago Theatre.
In 1998, Maria received a dance scholarship to the University of Arizona. As a dance major, she participated in several benefits for Angel Charity for Children, Inc., performed with QuinnWilliams Jazz and Paul M. Powell Productions, and was a summer apprentice for the River North Chicago Dance Company. She has assisted many master teachers, including Ben Vereen, Bill Hastings, Sam Watson, Susan Quinn and Zetta (Shook) Alderman.
Maria was hired by Royal Caribbean Productions in 2001. After several projects as a dancer and dance captain, she was asked to join the RCP shoreside team as a rehearsal choreographer/director. She has worked closely with, and assisted, choreographers such as Harrison McEldowney, Jeremy Plummer and Sherry Zunker.
Maria has choreographed several musicals as well, including the Colorado Springs’ Fine Arts Center’s Sweet Charity and Cabaret. She is also closely involved with Indigo Dance Colorado and the Colorado Jazz Dance Company.
JIM BROWN
Jim Brown grew up in New Mexico and started ballroom dancing in high school. After graduating college at the University of New Mexico with degrees in Music and Creative Writing he started teaching ballroom dance professionally.
Jim moved to Denver in 1997 to teach and compete. In 2007 he opened a coffee shop/game store in Highlands Ranch called Enchanted Grounds but has since returned to teaching dance and fitness full time. He is a certified instructor of American and International Ballroom and Latin dance styles and is a certified Zumba Fitness instructor.
In the spring of 2009 he and his current dance partner, Julie Lewis, will be contending for the US Championship title in the American Smooth category of ballroom dance. Also starting in the spring of 2009, Jim will join the faculty of the prestigious National Theater Conservatory at the Denver Performing Arts Center. Jim will join the Studio 21 staff as ballroom, Latin and Zumba instructor.
About Us
Our Mission
Studio 21 strives to provide technical dance instruction and personal development in a fun and engaging environment. Classes are enriched with lessons on Integrity, Responsibility, Courage and Team Work. Students are taught how to use positive self talk and optimism to assist in learning new skills.
Classes & Performances
Studio 21 provides technique based classes enriched with character development. Skills will be broken down to basic movement to give students a strong dance foundation in technique from the fundamentals to the cutting edge.
Studio 21 is committed to age appropriate costumes, choreography and music. Routines will be challenging enough to drive technical development, yet compact enough to develop skill mastery- not just comprehension. Each student will be given the opportunity and tools to succeed in class, and the inspiration to succeed in life.
Studio 21 Dance, LLC
(720) 435-6689
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