About
Get to Know the Heart Behind Dance by Jana

MEET OUR FOUNDER
Jana Bennett
BIOGRAPHY
I grew up in Skokie, Illinois, and spent most of my childhood studying ballet pre-professionally five days a week. On the other two days, I traveled across Chicago to train in every other style I could find, hungry to expand my movement vocabulary and convinced I was going to become a ballerina... until I discovered Contemporary dance and everything changed.
As a neurodivergent artist with dyslexia, dance quickly became my safe space, a place where I could think through movement, be my authentic self, and connect to something bigger than words. I earned my BFA in Dance from Texas Christian University, graduating as the Senior Scholar and a John V. Roach Honors Laureate.
I went on to dance professionally for eight years, becoming a founding member of Cocodaco Dance Project and later serving as Interim Artistic Director at Foster Dance Studios before launching Skunkworks Dance, a pre-professional Contemporary studio I led for seven incredible years.
Over the course of my career, I developed my own improvisation method (Eko), and specialized in Contemporary dance training, choreography, and cross-training for dancers.
I have trained dancers who have gone on to perform with the Gibney Company, Batsheva Dance Ensemble, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and attend the Juilliard School. My choreographic work has been presented by DanceWorks Chicago, Thodos Dance Chicago, and Cocodaco Dance Project, and I have led masterclasses at Extensions Dance, Incite Dance Center, and other studios and intensives throughout the Midwest.
Dance by Jana is the next evolution of my work, where teaching, choreography, and research meet. I am excited to share this space with dancers, educators, and creators who crave something deeper.
I am currently in the process of relocating to Denver, Colorado, where I look forward to continuing this work and expanding my creative community.
A few fun facts:
I have two cats and am a proud cat person. I’m extremely close with my family, connection, and support are everything to me. And while I’m now immersed in artistry, math was actually my favorite subject in school. I still approach choreography with a mathematical lens.
MISSION
I believe in dance as both personal expression and collective evolution. It is a tool for transformation, for the individual, for the community, and for the field itself. My mission is to train dancers who are not just strong technicians, but curious thinkers and expressive artists. I aim to create spaces where learning is joyful, rigorous, and deeply human, and where every dancer is empowered to discover their voice and move with intention.
As a teacher, I specialize in Contemporary dance, improvisation, and cross-training, blending somatic awareness, dance science, and brain-body tools to support sustainable, intelligent movement. In my classroom, I invite dancers to take ownership of their process with mantras like “get comfortable with being uncomfortable,” “make choices, and make them confidently,” and “the beauty lies in the imperfection.”
I encourage dancers to embrace failure as a necessary part of growth and to treat discomfort not as a barrier but as a doorway into discovery. Above all, I believe in creating a space where dancers feel seen, challenged, and safe enough to take risks.
As a choreographer, I’m drawn to world-building, creating emotionally resonant, highly detailed work that lives in a space between narrative and abstraction. My choreography is collaborative by nature, shaped in conversation with the dancers who perform it, so that the final work feels deeply lived-in and specific to the artists in the room.
My neurodivergent lens gives me a unique relationship with movement, structure, and expression, one that pushes me to reimagine how dancers learn and how choreography is built. I bring that same perspective to Dance by Jana, which I see not only as a space for training but as a platform for exploration, for dancers, educators, and creatives who want to engage with dance as a living, evolving practice.
I believe dancers are cultural storytellers, and the studio is a space to nurture both movement and meaning. Training should prepare dancers not only for performance, but for life.
Even after decades in the field, I still feel lit up by the possibilities of a blank studio, a new score, or a question I’ve never asked before. That sense of wonder drives everything I do, and it’s what I hope to pass on to every dancer I work with.
THE APPROACH
My approach to dance training is built on curiosity, experimentation, and rigor. Whether I’m teaching improvisation, contemporary technique, or cross-training, my work follows a pattern rooted in the scientific method: assess, explore, adapt, and reassess. I do not believe becoming a great dancer is about “having it,” it is about having the tools. With the right blend of brain-body integration, foundational technique, and creative risk-taking, dancers can become the artists they dream of being.
My original improvisation method, Eko, is the heart of my teaching. Developed through years of research and practice, Eko is a neuro-based improvisation approach that trains the brain as much as the body. Using structured tasks, sensory exploration, and responsive movement scores, dancers build adaptability, take risks, and find their artistic voice. The transformation is real: dancers learn faster, move more confidently, and connect more deeply to themselves and their work.
Contemporary dance is at the core of everything I do. My movement style is highly physical, emotionally raw, and rooted in ballet-based technique, but always human. My choreography blends nonlinear narrative with world-building and detail, drawing from influences like Ohad Naharin and Crystal Pite while maintaining a distinct voice of its own. I’ve been choreographing since I could walk; it’s how I understand the world. I build work that honors the individuality of the dancers in the room and resonates with audiences on a visceral level.
Equally important to me is the science of dance. My cross-training approach blends functional movement, neurology, and performance conditioning to build strong, sustainable dancers. With mentorship from Debra Vogel and a background in personal training, I bring sport science into the studio in accessible ways. This work is often a game-changer, it accelerates growth, reduces frustration, and gives dancers a smarter, more empowered understanding of their bodies. From trunk stability and breath mechanics to efficient movement patterns, my goal is to help dancers train with both depth and clarity.
Whether through improvisation, choreography, or conditioning, my approach is built to evolve with the dancer. I believe in reshaping habits, retraining the brain, and constantly asking how we can move better, think deeper, and create more meaning through our work.