Who We Are

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Janene began a love and passion for dance at a very early age. She has over 30 years of dance experience, with training in clogging, tap, ballet, jazz, modern, lyrical, hip hop, and contemporary dance.
Janene grew up in Grace, Idaho. She began her first dance experience in clogging. She danced with the the Black Canyon Cloggers under the direction of Valorie Anderson. They competed all of over Idaho and Utah winning many awards.  She was a three year Drill Team member at Grace High School, Co-Captain her Senior year, and helped choreograph all their routines.
She began her formal dance training in Logan, Utah with Tueller School of Dance under the direction of Valeen Tueller and Tina Comadena. She competed with Tuellers in the convention circuit and won numerous scholarships. She also took classes at the Cache Civic Ballet.
From 1998-2000, Janene helped her sister open up and run a local dance studio teaching jazz, tap, ballet, and pointe.  This is where she truly learned to love teaching dance.
Janene was awarded a two year dance scholarship to perform with the Utah State Sunburst singers and dancers team under the direction of Derek Furch and Rachel Morealle.  They toured with their production to Iowa, Sun Valley, and numerous sites in Utah. 
Janene continued her dance education at Southern Utah University.  She studied under Shauna Mendini, Kay Anderson, Gwen Grimes, and Paul Ocampo.  She was a student choreographer for the Breaking Boundaries concert as well as the Vital Dance Concert. She was invited to attend the American College Dance Festival in Long Beach California and Montana both times performing in the Gala concert. She was an SUU Waukeenyan dancer for one year and received her Bachelors degree from SUU in Dance Education with an minor in Health. 
Janene has received many choreography awards throughout her tenure in the dance. She won the Ensemble award for the SUPAF Southern Utah Performing Arts Festival. She had a featured piece in the St. George Contemporary Dance Concert. She also won the Dance America National’s in the advanced contemporary routine, overall top Junior contemporary, and has choreographed many drill team routines that have won at multiple region and state competitions.
From 2002 to 2016 Janene has been very involved in the drill team world. She helped assist Parowan, Canyon View, and Cedar High School. She has won Region 9 times once as an assist and once as a head coach of Cedar High School. She took 3rd overall at State twice as head Coach receiving a 2nd Overall in dance routine, and was nominated twice for coach of the year while coaching at Cedar High. She was able to perform at a REAL soccer game with her team. She collaborated and brought local drill teams together in performing in the Utah Summer Games. She established the Ignite Dance Workshop and Competition as a fundraiser for Cedar High School. She has also taught at multiple studios and was an Adjunct Professor at Dixie College and continues to Adjunct for SUU as a Jazz/Modern teacher.
Her first year with IDC, they won "Best NU Group" at Nuvo Dance Convention and performed in the closing show.
As a mother of five, Janene has always loved to connect and mentor dance students. She strives to focus on their potential and bring out the best in them. She does her best to continue her dance education by attending professional dance conventions and teacher workshops. She is innovative, dedicated, and passionate about every thing she does. She is so excited for this new adventure to bring another avenue to young dancers with Ignite Dance Company. Janene is so blessed to have the love and support from family and friends and can't thank them enough for their positive influence in her life.