Jennifer was born in Los Angeles and has lived in Pasadena since 1972. She was trained in ballet by Stanley Holden as one of his first students at the Music Center in Los Angeles and subsequently at his studio in West Los Angeles.She received her Advanced Certificate from the Royal Academy of Dancing at age 15. She was a recipient of the Ford Foundation Scholarship to the School of American Ballet. As a young dancer, she performed extensively in ballet performances and television including Australian Ballet’s Don Quixote with Rudolf Nureyev, the San Francisco Ballet, the Brady Bunch and the Odd Couple.
For nearly 10 years, Jennifer teaches as well as direct students’ performances at Dance Conservatory of Pasadena. The program stemmed from the growing need of a high quality pre-professional and adult ballet program in the heart of Pasadena. With Jennifer’s guidance, the Conservatory has challenged students to create work that’s important to the local community. The Conservatory mixes traditional dance elements with intuitive and visceral intellect. The work is rooted in the values of Pasadena with a focus on building the next generation artists and creative leaders.
Jennifer was the Executive Director of the dance company - Diavolo | Architecture in Motion from 2014-2018. During her tenure, Diavolo had been seen by millions of people around the world through national and international touring and television including America’s Got Talent, Le Plus Grand Cabaret du Monde (France), Die Helene Fischer Show (Germany), Ovation Channel’s The Art Of:, and Red Bull Channel’s Diplo Presents. She also created and guided the first two phases of the Veterans Project which had concluded with three performances at the Kennedy Center in February 2018.
Jennifer received her BA in art history from Pomona College, her JD from UC Davis School of Law and her MBA from UC Irvine School of Business. She had been an attorney for 30 years. She is very active in the Los Angeles and Orange County arts communities, and currently serves on the Board of Councilors of USC’s Kaufman School of Dance and the Board of Overseers of the Huntington Library, Gardens and Art Collections.
