Janie
Christy
Owner and director, of the Janie Christy School of Dance.
Janie has been dancing since the age of 3, when her pediatrician recommended ballet lessons to remedy signs of weak ankles. Little did her mother know that giving her daughter dance lessons would be the gift that would last a lifetime. It was the beginning of a life of dancing.
Growing up in Wichita Falls, Texas, Janie was trained in classical ballet by European dancers Frank and Irina Pal and performed with the Wichita Falls Ballet Theatre. As a high school senior, she began student teaching with the Pals, and loved instructing young children.
Continuing to dance and teach through college, as a theatre arts major, she also performed musical theatre in summer stock with the Music Theatre of Wichita, Kansas.
After her marriage to husband, Glen, she continued to perform and teach ballet in Austin, Tx., St. Louis, Mo., Houston, Tx. and then in Dallas, at the Schaffenburg/Cross Dance studio and the Dallas Ballet Center.
Making Lake Highlands their home in 1986, Janie and Glen raised their three children, Amber, Tori and Ryan. With her husband’s encouragement and business background, her dream of opening her own studio in Lake Highlands became a reality in August 1993.
Celebrating the 17th anniversary of the Janie Christy School of Dance this season, Miss Janie, as she is known by all her students, still enjoys sharing her love of dance and music with children from age 3 years old to teenagers.
Now a grandmother, Janie has recently added Mom & Tot classes, so she can sing and dance with her 3 grandchildren, while teaching moms of toddlers fun songs and creative movement.
She looks forward to dancing with all her many children of Lake Highlands, Dallas, Richardson, Garland, Plano, and as far as Rockwall, for years to come, giving them the “Gift of Dance” her mother gave to her.
Gina
Baker
Tap and Jazz Director and Office Manager, of the Janie
Christy School of Dance.
Gina Baker has been a faculty member at Janie Christy School of Dance since 1993 and currently serves as Tap and Jazz Director and Office Manager. She began her training at age five in Zanesville, Ohio at the
Marjorie Holzschuler Sellers Dance Arts Centre. Gina moved to Dallas in 1988 where she continued her training. She studied with the Dance Departments at both Richland College and CCCCD and was a member of Dance Express. She also attends Musicworks Unlimited workshops yearly. She also enjoys spending time with her husband and their family pets..
Karin
Claussen
This is Karin Claussen's 11th year dancing at Janie Christy's and her 3nd year as a teacher. She has also been a student assistant for 3 years. Last year in the recital, she was Dorothy in The Wonderfully Wacky Wizard of Oz. This is also her second year as a Highlandette at Lake Highlands High School. She is not only a member of redline and dance team, but she is also a Lieutenant.
Amanda
Lousberg
Amanda Lousberg has been dancing for 19 years, training at the Academy of Dance and Gymnastics, in ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, and pointe. She studied modern at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she completed her under-graduate degree in May 2007. Amanda currently dances with Dallas Dance Company and teaches ballet, tap, jazz and hip-hop at The Dance Movement in Plano, and modern at the Janie Christy School of Dance. If she’s not dancing, she can be found at home with her dog, Maggie.
Erica Smartt
Erica began her dance training at the age of three at the Kingwood Dance School in Kingwood Texas. She then studied at the Pat Riddle School of Dance in Irving Texas and Dana's School of Dance in Grapevine Texas where she took ballet, tap, and jazz classes.
At the age of twelve, Erica joined the Festival Ballet Company in Denton Texas where she specialized in ballet and pointe and performed in the company's travelling production of the Nutcracker for two years. She then relocated with her family to New Jersey where concentrated her studies in ballet, pointe, and tap.
In high school, she was invited to train with the Rockettes in Manhattan during Christmas.
She came back to Texas and graduated high school in San Antonio Texas and took ballet, pointe, and tap classes at The San Antonio Dance Academy. Erica graduated from Texas A & M University in May. Throughout her entire college career, Erica taught ballet, pointe, and tap classes at Suzannes School of Dance. She currently teaches ballet and pointe at various studios throughout the metroplex, and looks forward to teaching at Janie Christy's.