About
Janaea Rose Lyn was born in New York City and came of age in San Francisco. Freedom, expression, and community were emblematic of the music she grew up on. When she found these values embodied in the philosophy and style of modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan, Janaea found her passion for dance and a life-long commitment to the transformative power of movement in everyone’s life.
After completing her undergraduate degree, she was invited to Paris as the artist in residence at the Akademia Raymond Duncan. Janaea returned to America and immersed herself in the vibrant New York dance scene. Her graduate studies developed her skills as a choreographer working with musicians, which led to the formation of Convergence - Dancers and Musicians. Based in Philadelphia, the company created collaborative works by company members, guest choreographers, and composers, performing nationally and internationally for over a decade.
Upon relocating to Maryland Janaea formed Dance Matrix, expanding her choreographic work to include theater artists. She established a performing arts degree program at the local community college with a student-driven, faculty-mentored interdisciplinary focus. After fifteen years, Janaea moved to Arizona, where she founded a dance degree program, also at a community college. She developed curricula for teaching collaborative dance-making for use in classes and productions and has written articles and presented at national conferences on her pedagogy. Additionally, Janaea designed career preparation courses to help her students pursue a life in the performing arts. Her recent book, Choreographing Your Dance Career, is intended as a companion for dance practitioners at every career stage.
Janaea’s life has come full circle as she is once again an independent artist and educator. She was recently invited to be a Teaching Artist with the Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education, and can be found teaching creative dance, reading poetry, and drumming by the beach in Southern Delaware.
