Adult Jazz

Adult Jazz with Jeni Jones

Open Level/Beginner Jazz Class

Tuesdays: 8:00-9:30pm

Sundays: 10:30am-12:00pm

Sign up via MindBody

With a focus on imparting musicality, vocabulary, technique and alignment, Jeni’s gentle Open Level/Beginner Jazz Class is a timeless Jazz Dance Class designed for new and returning dance enthusiasts of all backgrounds. It is a safe place where beginners and professionals are encouraged to learn side by side. Every class begins with a thoughtful, easy-to-follow, therapeutic Luigi-style warm up, which incorporates conditioning, a lyrical jazz adagio, and a modern jazz port de bras, all set to feel good music. We then travel across the floor, working walks, technical progressions and turns. We learn achievable, original jazz dance choreography ranging from lyrical to Broadway to Fosse to commercial to contemporary Jazz. Lastly we seal in our hard work with Jeni’s signature Jazz Reverence.   

Jeni Jones first danced on stage 30 years ago with the Joffrey Ballet at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Segerstrom Center. She danced on scholarship at Defore Dance Center, where she began her Luigi-style Jazz Dance training with Hama and simultaneously joined the modern, Giordano-style company Jazz Spectrum under the direction of Christine Baltes. She studied Fosse and Theatre Jazz in Florida at the Broadway Theatre Project with Ann Reinking, Joel Grey, and Tommy Tune. Jeni earned her BA from Fordham University and her MFA from CalArts, while continuing to train at notable N.Y. and L.A. institutions with legendary Jazz dance educators, such as Luigi, Hama, Joe Tremaine, Jackie Sleight, and Claude Thompson, to name a few. She has also studied modern styles such as Graham, and Horton, which are often incorporated into her work.  

Jeni has performed on stages of all sizes, in musicals, in films, and has taught Master Classes and presented Jazz pieces at dance concerts including Jazz Dance Conference West, the I.E. Dance Festival, and the Arizona Dance Festival. Jeni is an award-winning filmmaker, NAACP Award-winning theatre director, actor, martial artist, and MC. 

Jeni Jones is thrilled to bring her thoughtful, heartfelt Jazz Dance Class to the Westside and is happy to answer questions related to her class. Modifications to movement can be made as necessary and are highly encouraged. No shoes are required to attend your first class.  

Learn more about Jeni Jones here: https://westsideballet.com/faculty/jeni-jones/