Jessica Lewis (Artistic Director, Director of Education) is a choreographer, dance educator, dancer, director, and producer. She holds an MFA in Choreography from Wilson College and holds an M.A. in Dance Education from the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program, Hunter College.
Born and raised in New York City, her work has appeared in many major dance, theater, and film festivals and self-produced productions throughout the area. She has performed and choreographed at the Dance Theater Workshop (now NYLA), 92nd Street Y, Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX), DUMBO Dance Festival, CoolNY, The Duke, Hunter College, New York University, IRT Theater, DanceWave, Cunningham, Westfest, Kids Café Festival, Gallatin Arts Festival, The Muse, University Settlement, Gibney Dance (ShowDown), and throughout the New York area, with her company Kitchen Dance Collaborative (formerly Jessica Lewis Arts) where she is the founder and Co-Director) and Andrew Jannetti & Dancers.
Jessica has taught dance, theater, and music in NYC for the past 16 years. She continues to run educational programs and artistic projects at Kitchen Dance Collaborative (formerly Jessica Lewis Arts, 501c3 non-profit) throughout New York City. She is currently the director of Dance at Hamilton Grange Middle School in Washington Heights/Harlem.
Jessica was the Advisory Board Representative for the National Honors Society for Dance Arts to the National Dance Education Organization until 2021. She was also the 2015-16 NDEO Student Representative to the Board and the and Chapter President for the National Honors Society for Dance Arts at Hunter College (graduate level). She runs two NHSDA chapters: a Junior Chapter at HGMS and a Junior and Secondary combined chapter through Kitchen Dance Collaborative (formerly Jessica Lewis Arts) in their pre-professional dance company, the Youth Dance Company.
Jessica teaches throughout the New York area (all ages) in modern dance, choreography, creative movement, gymnastics, and tumbling, as well as teaching health education and P.E., and the humanities. Jessica is also an experienced theater and music educator and coaches students of all ages privately or in small groups. A specialty of hers is audition preparation in all the arts, and college and high school advisement. Jessica also has taught regularly at Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) for younger dance students.
By the age of twelve, Jessica was a junior member, of Andrew Jannetti & Dancers. At sixteen, she became the youngest dancer and choreographer in the company.
She studied at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study; earning a B.A. Summa Cum Laude in Interdisciplinary Arts Studies Through a Cinematic Lens. There she focused on choreography and generative artistry through teaching. She also developed her own technique of choreography: “emotional character trajectory” work. Jessica creates storyline and character (in a non-linear, non-literal sense) through this combination of her theatrical training and choreographic artistry. Jessica's extensive training in theater, film, writing, and music has a deep impact on her work as both a creator and educator. She constantly weaves interdisciplinarity into her own artistic work and her educational approach.
Jessica attended LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Performing Arts as a Vocal Major (classical, jazz, and musical theater trained). She was a member of the 92nd Street Y "Young Master's Company," and has performed with the Anna Sokolow Theater Dance Ensemble as an apprentice.
Jessica has studied with Andrew Jannetti, Lynn Simonson, Jana Hicks, Marijke Eliasberg, Joya Powell (Movement of the People Dance Company), Martha Chapman, Diane McCarthy, Laurie Devito, Katiti King, Benny Simon, Chris Heller, Te Perez, Kathleen Isaac, Joshua Legg, David Capps, Maura Donohue, Irene Dowd, Jessica Nicoll, the Joffrey Ballet School, Ellen Robbins, Dancewave Inc., Alvin Ailey School of Dance, The Martha Graham Studio, Merce Cunningham Studio, Diane Jacobowitz, Jeanette Stoner, Kathy Posin, Jay T. Jenkins, Tara Summerville, Jeanette Panetta, and Jim May.
Grants and partnerships include City Center, Arnhold Dance Education, Movement of the People Dance Company, Kalamandir Dance Company (Brinda Guha), Pauly Taylor Dance, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD Professional Development), New York Dance Education Association (NYSDEA), Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program (full scholarship for Masters level studies), Bronfman Center, and NYU.
Gina Marie Borden (C0-Director, Artistic Collaborator) is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University, where she majored in dance and completed a program in women’s leadership. Her senior piece was a solo created collaboratively with former Trisha Brown Dance Company member Mariah Maloney. She has performed in works by Susan Rethorst, Beth Gill, and Lance Gries at New York Live Arts, and in a work by Jon Kinzel at Miller Theater. Borden choreographed Columbia University’s 119th Annual Varsity Show, performed a solo in GROUNDPLAN at La Plaza Cultural, and created work for Fete de l’Hurricane at Red Bean Studios. Other performance credits include Ferrum by Carte Blanche Performance, and ...on a darkling plain and Quizas by Andrew Jannetti and Dancers. Borden studied in Paris under the direction of Michael Foley and Colleen Thomas in June 2012. In August 2015, Borden attended Amalgamate Dance Company’s BREAK OUT dance program in Sant'Angelo in Vado, Italy, where she performed in works by Alana Marie Urda and Jessica Taylor. She was cast as a part of Amalgamate Dance Company’s Guest Artist Showcase 6 in a work by Bryan Strimpel, as well as in other work by colleagues around New York. Recently, Borden completed her MBA at New York University Stern School of Business and uses her experience in the performing arts to consult for non-profits across the New York City region.
Olivia Villalba (Dancer, Artistic Collaborator) grew up in Stamford Connecticut where she has been studying dance since a young age. Olivia is a Hofstra University graduate where she received a B.S. in Dance Education K-12. She is a dance educator in the NYCDOE and also teaches ballet, tap, hip-hop, and jazz in a variety of studios in New York and Connecticut. Olivia also works with different studios to create outreach programs to bring movement classes into public schools. Olivia joined DanceKerr & Dancers in 2015 and continues to dance with them. Olivia joined Jessica Lewis Arts in 2019 and is excited to be developing new arts and education projects with the company.
Eveline Kleinjans (Artistic Collaborator) is a dancer and dance educator from the Netherlands. She got her BA in Dance in Education with a minor in General Arts Education in 2012. She started dancing at the age of 5 (improvisation based dance and jazz). During high school she choreographed for the musical "Foxtrot" by Annie M.G. Schmidt that was performed in 2006. While in the Netherlands she performed in pieces by Caurena Bernabela, Sanne van der Put and Lorenzo Borella. She taught classes in Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Ballet and has choreographed all different ages and levels.After graduating for her dance degree in 2012 she received a scholarship from the VSB fund to study Simonson Technique in New York City. She started in September 2012 as a VISA student at Dance New Amsterdam and after their closing in October 2013 she resumed her program at Steps on Broadway. Since she moved to New York she performed in works by Diane McCarthy, Katiti King, Laurie DeVito, Akiko Tomikawa, Mei Yamanaka, Andrew Jannetti, Jana Hicks and Marijke Eliasberg. She is a founding member of Kitchen Dance Collaborative (formerly Jessica Lewis Arts).
