Jessyka Bagdon

Jessyka Bagdon (she/her) began studying dance and theatre in southern New Hampshire. She went on to earn her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dean College. Jessyka has had the pleasure of studying a wide variety of dance styles; including Tap, Jazz, Ballet (Vaganova, Cechetti), Modern (Release, Limon, Graham, Horton), Contemporary, Pointe, and Musical Theatre Dance. She has also had training in Hip Hop and Laban Movement Analysis. Jessyka has over ten years of professional experience teaching all of these styles, spanning all levels and ages, from toddler through adult. Jessyka is certified by the Teacher Training School of Dance Masters of America, and has completed Revolutionary Principles of Movement Teacher Training - level one. She has served as choreographer for the New Hampshire Professional Theatre Association Auditions and proudly performed with the American Tap Dance Foundation at the City Center in NYC. She spent time training in Manhattan, while bringing Ballet to underserved public school children as a Teaching Artist for the American Repertory Ballet; and working as an instructor, choreographer, and production assistant at various dance and performance organizations in Northern New Jersey. Jessyka spent two years as a teaching artist at Joy of Motion Dance Center where she taught a wide variety of ages and styles including working with auditioned performance groups of adults and youth musical theatre, and directing two jazz performance ensembles. For over five years Jessyka worked with Knock On Wood Tap studio as an educator, tech consultant, and co-director for various events. She was a founding member of the DC/Maryland/Virginia Coalition of Dance Educators (DMVCODE) working with fellow teaching artists to support one another and advocate with employers to uphold standards of treatment and ethics in the field. Jessyka founded and directed Emanate Jazz Ensemble, creating a space for intermediate level youth Jazz dancers to rehearse and perform during early COVID. She teaches Tap dance at charter schools in the greater DC area. She has been the sole director and educator for numerous Tap programs at dance studios throughout the East Coast; has had her choreography chosen to perform for National Choreographer’s Month events; and for many years was an active performing member of District Tap, SOLEdarity, and Kats In Taps (founding member) dance ensembles. She regularly participates in performance and choreographic opportunities in the DMV area; as part of produced shows, community performances, and educational presentations. She is currently serving as the head of the Tap and Ballet departments at Perfect Pointe Dance Studio, where she has been integral in developing and launching their Adaptive Dance Program for students with disabilities. She is gratified to be continuously and graciously enveloped (along with Cadence - her four legged sidekick) by the local Washington DC dance community.