About Janae

Hi, nice to meet you!

I fell in love with the sport of gymnastics when I was just 4 years old, and never could I have imagined just how significant this sport would be on my life. When I was little, I used to put on classical music and make up countless floor routines in my room. I dreamed of the day when I could choreograph my own routines. Once in college, I had the opportunity to do just that and now have been able to share my love of dance and gymnastics with countless other athletes across the country. I believe dance is another form of storytelling. Your routine is an opportunity to find ways of expressing who you are, and what makes you unique. I love having the privilege of seeing someone come to life, finding their inner performer, and growing in their confidence.

I love dance and I continue to take dance classes weekly because it inspires new ways of movement and choreography that I can bring into new routines. Plus it brings me so much joy! Choreographing has become a fulfillment of my childhood dreams and after 20 years as an athlete, I love that I can still give back to the next generation of gymnasts and see this sport continue to inspire.

Highlights:

  • NCAA National Competitor

  • Division 1 Full Ride Scholarship at the University of Washington

  • Collegiate All Around Competitor

  • Level 10/Elite Gymnast

  • JO Nationals - Region 1 Team

  • 10+ years of coaching experience (Recreational, Compulsory, Xcel, and JO Optional Levels 6-10

    • Coach of multiple JO National Qualifiers and Collegiate Competitors

  • Trained in many dance styles including Contemporary, Lyrical, Jazz, Jazz Funk, Hip Hop, Ballroom, Etc

  • Continues to train and take classes under dance industry professionals including Kyle Hanagami, Nike Kiljun, Hamilton Evans, Amanda Lacount, Kelly Sweeney, and Michael Rooney, among others

Early Years

A quickly accelerating talent, Janae scaled the USAG JO program, reaching level 9 by the time she was just 11 years old. In her first year of level 10 she was the Southern California State Beam and Regional beam champion and qualified for a spot on the National Invitational Tournament Region 1 Team where her performance won her the Bars Title. In 2012, she was the Level 10 Southern California State Floor Champion, and placed 2nd AA and on bars. In 2013, she was the Region 1 Bars Champion, and qualified to the JO Nationals Region 1 Team with a 5th place AA finish.

She trained at AOGC under Olympic and World Champion Coaches alongside elite superstars such as Mattie Larson, Sami Shapiro, and 2012 Olympic Gold & Silver Medalist Mckayla Maroney. Under their coaching, she excelled, qualifying for the JO Nationals Region 1 Team and training for Sr. Elite before deciding to accept a full ride scholarship to the University of Washington - a PAC-12 Division 1 program.

Janae was also a nationally competitive springboard and platform diver, including winning the AAU National Championships on the 3M springboard and placing in multiple national championships.

Collegiate Career

While at UW, she continued to excel and was coached by 2000 Olympic Bronze Medalist Elise Ray. She was a standout freshman, often anchoring the beam lineup and competing in the All Around where she scored a career high of 39.125. At the end of the season, she received the UW Newcomer of the Year Award.

Throughout her collegiate career, she was highlighted on the Pac-12 network, where commentators consistently praised her artistry, grace, and performance on the competition floor. She also choreographed all of her own floor and beam routines and especially loved drawing the crowd in while on floor. She also had an innate ability to pick up all of her teammates choreography and was often seen performing it on the sidelines during practice and competitions.

During her Senior Year, she played an integral role in UW’s history making 2017 team that qualified for the NCAA National Championships for the first time in 2 decades. She finished her career with hit routines on both beam and bars at the 2017 NCAA National Championships that helped secure UW’s finish as the 8th place team in the country. She was also nominated for the University of Washington Comeback Athlete of the Year across all athletic sports for her resilience in the face of adversity.

While continuing to compete, she also served as a coach for UW Gymnastics Summer Camps, and was the interim Head Coach of the XCEL Silver Team at Platinum Gymnastics. She loves continuing to invest into the next generation of athletes.

After Retirement

After retiring, she became a photographer and videographer for UW Gymnastics and traveled with the team as a Sports Information Director, documenting their successes and experience on the road. In 2018, she became the Optional Co-Head Coach for Cascade Elite Gymnastics coaching multiple gymnasts to Western Champions, JO Nationals and Collegiate Teams. She was also asked to coach for Samantha Pezek’s Beam Queen Bootcamp - a camp specifically focused on enhancing confidence and performance on the balance beam by providing training by World Class and Nationally recognized Olympic and Collegiate Coaches.

In 2019 she moved to Australia to study film and television production where she worked in live theater production and broadcast environments. She also had the opportunity to lead a team professionally shooting, filming, and producing dance video content. Now back in LA she works as a Tour Manager and Creative Producer for the national tour of the hit Netflix TV series, Magic for Humans with magician Justin Willman.

Choreography

With over 10 years of choreography experience, Janae has a track record of providing high quality routines for athletes of all skill levels while fostering an encouraging environment that plays to each individual gymnast’s strengths. She has a talent for finding the best combination of movement and poses that showcase each gymnast’s unique abilities and instills confidence in their performance. Whether learning a new routine seems daunting, or the athlete can’t wait to get started, Janae seeks to build a positive relationship with coaches, parents, and gymnasts to provide a process that is both fun and informative. In addition to individual choreography, she provides artistry privates for those that want more specific and intentional work on musicality, rhythm, facial expressions and eye contact. Janae believes that mastering these skills is what separates the best competitors from the rest of the competition because that’s when gymnasts can truly own the floor and perform in a way that people can’t help but watch.

Check out the Choreography page for examples of her work.